Danganronpa Hero's Conquest
by Shadowplayer360
Summary: After the events on Jabberwocky Island. The Future Foundation has made great progress in saving the world from despair. However the battle hasn't ended yet. Several students have been taken and given a mysterious task upon meeting together. Sounds like something straight out of an RPG, right? (SYOC closed)
1. List of OCs and Intro

**_(I do not own Danganronpa in any way! I'm just a regular fan like you guys who wants to share his story ideas! That's all!)_**

**_*UPDATE 10/12/14* The spots have all been filled! To those late in sending in OCs, sorry but it's already finished. Hopefully there's a next time. Now please send all the forms to Monokuma, who will be taking care of them in the most...unique...way possible..._**

* * *

**_"Hey hey. Is it ready yet?"_**

**_A bear-shaped figure was waddling along in the shadows with a large red scar-like eye glowing where it's head would presumably be._**

**_"I've got a lot of work to do to get back at those ungrateful bastards who tried to get rid of me these last few years, and I'm not planning on wasting away like a dead corpse!"_**

**_Another figure was sitting nearby, tinkering with something that had a human-like figure. From the few bits of light that the sparks gave off in the darkness, traces of metal and pieces of human skin could be seen all gathered together._**

**_"It's not finished yet. We need more time..."_**

**_"You want me to claw you to death? You're more useless than that stupid sister of mine back in that island!"_**

**_"Killing me won't help you get anything, except the chance to blow off some steam. Then what do you plan to do?"_**

**_The bear-shaped figure angrily shook it's fist(?) before turning around and chuckling._**

**_"Upupupu. I suppose you're right. I won't kill you as long as that still needs work. But you better make sure not to try anything funny in the meantime!"_**

**_The other figure groaned in response, but continued to work diligently on its task. The bear waddled over to a nearby computer, where several smaller screens popped up along with a body in each screen. The bodies were still alive and breathing, they were just put to sleep since their...retrieval...and were going to awaken very soon._**

**_"Now then," The bear laughed as it pressed a button. "Let us begin this game of Despair! Magic, Monsters, and a long fun-filled adventure awaits us!"_**

**_Upon pressing the button, the computer screen suddenly went black before an 8-bit style title appeared. The title was designed with dragons and a monochrome bear dressed as a wizard battling each other, while little 8-bit human figures were spread out everywhere._**

* * *

**_HERO'S CONQUEST!  
_****_  
_****_Start  
Options  
Credits_**

* * *

Name - (Last,First)

Age - (Age 18 and under)

Appearance - (Clothing, Hairstyle, Body, etc.)

Accessories - (Optional)

Personality - (Less detail = More improvisation from me. More Detail = Closer to your current idea)

History - (Give me something to work with. The more details, the greater your chance of surviving this ordeal.)

Family (Optional) –

Nationality - (No answer = Japanese)

SHSL - (Only one "Lucky". Don't mind using already existing talents)

Choice of weapon and why - (Toys like slingshots and real ones like swords are all good. Household items like brooms and vacuums are fair game too. Ray guns and other futuristic weapons aren't allowed. Even animals can work)

"Hero" or "Villain" –

Likes –

Dislikes –

Example - (How would your character act, talk, etc.?)

Other - (For whatever I may have missed…)

* * *

**_Now you probably notice that stuff is missing from this SYOC, right? WRONG! There is no trial (at least, not the usual one) in this Dangan Ronpa fanfic, because I am not using the first two games as my references. It is actually more based on "Another Episode", where there is no "Class Trial", but fighting. It's easier to see which side is which, and there's no struggle to think up exhausting methods of killing, so that will hopefully cut me some slack._**

**_Rules are that PM forms are accepted only. I really apologize, but I'm gonna be asking at least one question to each of you participants, and I don't want the others to know (But don't worry, it's nothing naughty. Gotta keep things clean around here after all...)_**

**_I'll start this out with only one OC per person, but after three days,I'm going to start accepting two max. Nobody else gets interested after a few more days, then I'm gonna fill in the spots myself.  
*UPDATE 10/12/14* I changed my mind. If by the end of the day nobody else sends in an OC by the end of the day, I'm gonna just make one up and then start working on this afterwards._**

**_Lessee... my limit is gonna be either 10 or twelve. Five for one side and Five - Seven on the other. Number of survivors? It's gotta be zero, but unfortunately this series requires me to have at least one lucky winner, so we shall see what happens._****_Course there's one more fun fact. If I get tired of this fanfic, or if you people give up on it, I'm gonna post a "GAME OVER" chapter, where Monokuma gets to rule the world full of despair and everybody definitely dies! Doesn't that sound amusing?_**

**_Now then, let's begin. Just press the "Start" button(Add "Start" to the bottom of your form) and once everyone is logged on, we shall begin our video game into fun-filled terror..._**

**_(P.S. On a more serious note, I want to do my best on this fanfiction, along with my other fanfics, so please post reviews on my work if you think it can improve. I will not cry, I will not get depressed, and I will try to answer your demands somewhat)_**

* * *

**Players**

**1\. Pikachi Shion - SHSL Gunslinger(fatefulERA)**

**2\. Ami Hitomi - SHSL Linguist (CaptainQuakin)**

**3\. Luciano De Cosmo - SHSL Archer (ShadeZyro)**

**4\. Agustin Abaroa - SHSL Hunter (ravenking64)**

**5\. Rigby Toole - SHSL Artist (Vi11age)**

**6\. Kimi Yukimura - SHSL Good Luck (Nessie71)**

**7\. Alyson "Allie" Mann - SHSL Musician (UltimateMatrio44)**

**8\. Youkou Kannagi - SHSL ?(AnimesWorld)**

**9\. Oscar Ackerman - SHSL Inspector (Super Fanatic Fangurlz)**

**10\. Fiorella "Fiore" Montanari - SHSL Informationist (HeroNoMore)**

**11\. Kujou Izumi - SHSL Warrior (Kizi1999)**

**12\. Miko Kotowari - SHSL Demolitionist (JokerMaze)**


	2. Prologue - A Meeting of Idiots

_**Thanks to all the OCs, I was able to work on this first chapter featuring our seven heroes/heroines. Villains, I will need to ask you all to be patient since you guys will be trying to kill them in bloody ways (supposedly).**_

_**So yeah, boring intro, but I'd still like it if you guys could tell me how I did in this intro page, and what I should do to improve.**_

_**Anyways, let's start!**_

_***Presses "Start" Button***_

* * *

Ugh…"

A young man woke up to find himself lying on the ground of a dark and dirty room. He stood up on his feet and using the single light bulb on the celling that was giving a decent amount of light, he took a quick look at his surroundings.

It seemed to have been an abandoned room since the walls were completely naked, showing the cement that was used to give it the shape of a room in the first place. There appeared to have been a cot that was chained to one side of the room, a blanket and pillow were there for comfort, but it didn't seem like those would've helped anyways. There was a single T.V. sitting on a wooden drawer. He tried to turn it on, but all that seemed to have appeared on the screen was static. Looking in the drawers, all he saw were a couple sets of extra clothing and some canned rations enough for a few days.

"_Guess I was sleeping here…"_ he thought to himself. He tried to recall what happened, but when he searched for his memories, everything felt too blurry for a clear picture. He could remember his name, his identity, most of his childhood, and part of his life. However he was drawing a blank from…wait, how long was he even knocked out? The room was windowless, so he couldn't tell what it was like outside.

Luckily, a mirror and sink was attached to a nearby wall, so he went over to get a good look on his face. On the mirror's surface, he got a clear view of his muscular body, which didn't seem to have anything wrong with it. He checked through his entire set of clothing, his vest, his boots, his jacket, all seemed to have been left alone. He got another look at the mirror to see that his hair wasn't tied in the usual ponytail, so he must have willingly been out of it earlier for whatever reason.

Using the mirror to help get the usual hairstyle set, he heard something shuffle at the door, which was closed. He reached at his waist for his weapons, but there wasn't anything there. He tried to look around for his bow and arrow, but nothing of the sort was even nearby. He was weaponless against whoever it was that was making that noise, but he couldn't risk panicking right now.

He listened in to the footsteps for a second time. Judging by the slightly lighter tapping of the steps and the rhythmic sounds of footsteps that drew closer, it seemed like it was a young girl who was heading towards this room. There was a small jingling sound, but it was too light and weak for any weapons or tools. Then again, it would be dangerous to assume she couldn't deal with him. He needed to make the first strike.

A dark figure was starting to form on the window place. He silently crouched, prepared to make his move. The shadows would hide him for a few seconds, but that's all he needed to make his move.

The door slowly opened as a voice came out with a curious tone.

"Um…hello?"

The figure took a few steps inside, signaling the hunter to make his move. He propelled himself forwards towards the door and immediately gripped the thighs and neck before pressing the girl against the wall.

"AAAHH!"

He got a good look at the girl's face which had a nervous smile on it. Her light green eyes carried the hint of fear that resulted in his actions, but what seemed to have bothered him was that her appearance overall was…well…"cute"…was the fitting term in this case.

Her body had little to no muscles as far as he could tell, and there was a small chain looped around her neck, meaning that she had some kind of accessory that hung underneath her clothes. Her dark brown hair had a slightly pinkish hue to them (probably highlights), and she wore tennis shoes with a dark grey shade to them. Her clothing was a white t-shirt with a dark blue skirt, which seemed to hint at least an interest in fashion. Overall this was a very "cute" girl who didn't seem like the best nor second-to-worst choice as a person who would capture him.

"Uh…P-Please don't try to attack me. I'd rather keep myself pure and clean for that one guy…"

He was momentarily confused at this statement. But then it dawned on him that that way he was holding her made it seem like he was about to assault her.

"Sorry about that…"

The young man released his grip, giving the girl a sigh of relief as she nervously laughing off what just happened.

"No, it's probably my fault. I mean I should've knocked or something before coming in…"

"What were you even doing?" He wanted answers, but the girl was looking around the room with interest.

"Wow…looks like everyone's rooms are like this then…" she turned with her arms folded behind her and continued to smile, as if to show no hostility towards him. "I guess we should start with introductions? My name is Ami Hitomi. Nice to meet you."

**Ami Hitomi  
SHSL Linguist**

"Er, my name is Agustin Abaroa…"

**Agustin Abaroa  
SHSL Hunter**

"Wait a minute. You still haven't answered my question." Agustin started to ask again, but the girl Ami seemed to have just realized something.

"Oh right! I needed to make sure you come over!" Taking his hand, she started pulling him towards the doorway. However, the difference in strength hadn't changed since their meeting, so Agustin didn't move a single step despite Ami's desperate attempt.

"Hey…" he began as Ami's cheeks started to puff out like those characters in a manga who overexerted themselves. He could tell that she was really trying, but he was naturally cautious, so he needed at least a couple of answers before going anywhere. However…

"What's going on up there?"

A loud voice boomed out from what sounded like below. Agustin assumed that Ami probably knew these people, and it didn't seem like the girl was going to give him any answers unless he followed, so he reluctantly gave in and started following her steps down the stairs, where he saw a large arrangement of people gathered together around a table with a rather large metal box on it.

The first person he noticed was another young girl who was also wearing a skirt. However the skirt had frills on it, but there was also pure white shirt underneath, which seemed really unfitting for a dark and dusty building. He also saw that her hair was long enough to reach her shoulders, and the ends behind her seemed to be curled up slightly while the ends at her side seemed to have been tied together. At first, he thought her hair was black, but getting a better look, he saw that it was just a very dark blue which almost matched her eyes. A silver bracelet was wrapping around her arm, and her feet wore black dress shoes with a pair of white socks in between.

The one next to her was a young man who had red hair that was styled in a depressing way, conflicting with the calm hazel blue eyes (or eye, actually) on his ace. It was "eye" because the boy was wearing an eye patch on his right side. He almost started to feel pity for the boy, but his face was frowning with his arms crossed, hinting that he was probably the one who shouted earlier (Agustin took it as a sign that meant he was fine). He wore a white collared shirt with a black tie, a black dress coat and a pair of black trousers. His shoes were a pair of black loafers and a closer look showed that his pants were being held by a black belt. In fact, the only things that weren't black on this one was his shirt and socks.

Another girl was on the boy's other side. A young girl who had tan-colored skin with a slender body. Her hair was a dark brown that was straight and smooth, almost like it was shimmering. It seemed to have been styled with a ponytail at the side, but the few bangs that were at the front were smoothed out towards her right to give a nearly clear view of the eyes behind her glasses, which seemed to be a calming blue. She wore a grey blazer over a white dress shirt, along with a frilly gray skirt that seemed to extend just at knee length, giving a clear view of the long boots she wore. Her hands had thin leather gloves that were a dark colored. (He began to wonder if this "Black" and "White" theme was popular all of a sudden.)

Next was the boy who seemed to have a rather slim figure. His hair was a light brown color with curly ends, and his face looked like someone who was rather passive and easily pushed around. His eyes were a pale blue, which matched the plaid shirt that he wore underneath the tan coat of his. His jeans were also a light blue, but there were signs of wear on them, which probably meant that they were his favorite. He also held a brown beret in his hand, and seemed rather reluctant to wear it, but that didn't matter at the moment.

Finally, there was one more boy who seemed rather young. His hair was short and black, tied in a small ponytail. His brown eyes and pale skin didn't seem to match all that much, but his crossed arms and slight glaring look told Agustin that there was seriousness in his eyes. He wore a long black sleeved jacket with matching black pants that were knee-length. Around his pants, he could tell that there was a leather belt that was probably mean to hold something, but the purple cape on his shoulder was covering the entire left side, so he couldn't see what the belt was meant for.

To Agustin, this was a rather unusual group who probably found themselves in a similar situation to his (white was a poor choice of color for clothing in this kind of place, after all). Of course he was still suspicious of them all, but there didn't seem to be any hostility as far as he could tell, so he sat down at the table along with Ami, who took the spot next to him.

"It's about time you showed yourself…" the one who spoke was the red-haired boy. His voice was calm yet condescending. He could tell that this one was annoyed, but he couldn't tell if this was an insult or relief.

"Now that we had all shown up, we can get started…"

"Started? What do you mean?"

The girl with tan-colored skin spoke up. "You didn't tell him anything Ami?"

Ami gave a small knock on her head while laughing a bit. "Sorry, I kinda forgot…"

The boy with the cape sighed. "It wasn't even 5 minutes ago…"

"Now now…" the meek-looking boy held his hands up to try and keep things peaceful. "I guess we may as well start right now." He turned to Agustin while pressing his hand to his chest. "I'm pretty sure you've got quite a number of things to ask, but let's start with names. My name is Rigby Toole. I'm an artist."

**Rigby Toole  
SHSL Artist**

Rigby began to hold up his hand towards the others in the group, starting with the girl wearing all white.

"This is Alyson Mann, the musician. I guess people call her 'Allie' sometimes…"

**Alyson "Allie" Mann  
SHSL Musician**

"The one with red-hair here is Luciano De Cosmo. The Archer"

"Hmph…" Luciano scoffed.

**Luciano De Cosmo  
SHSL Archer**

"That girl there is Fiorella Montanari. She's…an informant?"

"I said it was an informationalist. I gather information and use it. Also…" Fiorella's face had a small blush as she shifted her head. "I don't really care if you wanna use a nickname like Fiore…"

"Huh?"

"N-Nothing! I didn't say anything!"

**Fiorella "Fiore" Montanari  
SHSL Informationialist**

"Er… the guy with the cape is called Kujou Izumi. He says that his title is 'Warrior'."

Kujou shifted his eyes and gave a small nod before turning back.

**Kujou Izumi  
SHSL Warrior**

"And I'm hoping you already met Ami Hitomi, our Linguist."

"Nice to meet you!" Ami held up her fingers in a V-pattern as she greeted him the second time. "Just go ahead and give them all your name!"

"Er…my name is Agustin Abaroa. I'm…actually a hunter…"

"A hunter? Interesting…" Luciano tapped his index finger on his arm, which felt like it was a sign that he was frustrated about something. "Perhaps you were the one who captured us all?"

Agustin shook his head. "I understand why you might think that, but I don't know anything any better than the rest of you."

"Y-Y-You might be lying." Alyson was cowering a bit as she spoke. She seemed to have been afraid of something. "M-Maybe you're just saying this to make us trust you. Then when we're all asleep, you would…you would…" She couldn't finish her words, but the message was pretty clear.

"Actually, he did almost assault me earlier…" Ami said with a playful face.

Hurtful glares were piercing Agustin from everyone except for Rigby and Ami. Agustin was used to being treated as an outcast at times, so he wasn't bothered by it much. But it didn't change the fact that it was still uncomfortable all the same.

"I'm just kidding!" Ami suddenly said. "It was just an accident, and I was pretty much at fault here. Plus," she made a more slightly serious face as she continued. "I already took a look around his room. It was the same as ours, so it doesn't look like he's the one behind all this."

This seemed to have eased the tension a bit as the stares became more relaxed. Agustin was partially thankful for the save, but she was the cause as well, so he didn't say anything.

"Well I felt like it would've been the case," Luciano said as he stopped tapping his finger. "If he really wanted to assault us, then it would've been easy to do so while we were knocked out. He also could have us all tied up at that time, and the rooms looks like they were made for solitary confinement, so it wouldn't make sense to have the doors open if we were supposed to be trapped."

"Wait a minute," Agustin spoke up. "You mean all of you found yourselves in a room like mine?"

Everyone nodded. "Pretty empty rooms without any windows or T.V. shows to watch," Ami explained. "We all met each other in this room and started discussing about how we got here. But it seems like nobody can remember anything that was helpful…"

So it seemed that he wasn't the only one who was missing his memories. Having a quick discussion with the others, he figured that like him, everyone more or less knew about themselves and still had most of their memories intact. The only exception was any memories of how they got there, and why.

"Perhaps, we were meant to work together somehow?"

Everyone turned to Rigby, who was starting to feel uncomfortable as the center of attention.

"S-Sorry. It's just that, we're all missing these memories about the same timeframe, and assuming none of us are the culprits, we were all brought together for the same reason. I mean there's a scanner for the same number of people here…"

"Scanner? What are you talking about?"

"Oh right, we didn't tell you yet. Sorry Agustin." Rigby pointed to the large metal box that was at the table. "Take a look at that thing over there."

Getting a closer look, Agustin saw that the large box had unusual features on it.

The box actually resembled a rather large safe like the ones banks had. There wasn't a dial or any buttons on it, but seven different scanning grids were set all over the safe. There was light coming from it, which meant that it was still active. But the only thing that really stuck on Agustin's mind was how shady this safe looked.

"There was a message on this safe that told us not to open it until after we saw a 'Monochrome bear'…"

"A monochrome bear? You mean like a panda?" Pandas were animals native to China, not Japan. And it's not like they'd be able to get to a zoo anytime soon…

"Who knows? We never found anything else, so we all agreed to wait around and see if something happens."

"How long ago was that?"

"Uh, maybe an hour or so? I don't remember, but it's been a while and nothing happened so far…"

"Like I said, nothing was probably going to happen unless everyone has arrived." Luciano was even more annoyed now. But he seemed to have kept control over his emotions as he didn't overreact. "Now all we need to do is just wait."

"Wait for what?"

"Wait for THIS!"

The new voice immediately brought a sudden chill on everyone's mind. They immediately turned around towards the source of the voice to find a strange sight.

It looked like a doll. A doll that was more or less standing on its own. It was a teddy bear, yet not a teddy bear. A very thin line had split his bear down the middle, making one side of the bear white and innocent-looking, while the other was black and fiendish. The bear's navel was outward and open, and the jagged-looking "eye" on the black side was glowing red. Overall the appearance of the bear looked like two halves of different toys stuck together.

"I am Monokuma!" The bear said, emphasizing the word "I". "And I…am here to kill...you...all…"

* * *

_**So...what did you guys think?**_

_**Also, I should probably note that POV will change either midway of the chapter, or in-between each chapter (or at least that's the plan)**_

_**I'm gonna start working on part 2 now, and if you guys haven't done so yet, please answer those questions I've asked you. Or if you can't tell me why, and I'll try to figure something else out...**_


	3. Prologue - The Quest of something

_**Hey, thanks to EVERYONE for reviewing. I'm glad that I got your characters at least close to how you wanted them. But I might accidentally start deviating a bit as I continue (Here's hoping not though...). Anyways, I'm glad that this got positive reviews so far, and I hope this next one is just as good.**_

* * *

Fiorella gazed at the small bear that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. She was a woman who was informed about many things. She knew about Monokuma, the thing that took over Hope Peak's Academy, ruined Jabberwocky Island, and nearly destroyed the sanity of millions. Monokuma wasn't even a stuffed doll. It was actually a robot that was created to act as the eyes, ears, hands, and legs of the Ultimate Despair, a person who was supposedly the most despair-inducing genius in the world. However there were verified rumors that the Ultimate Despair had already died, so Monokuma shouldn't have been active in the first place. Maybe it was a copycat? Or maybe Monokuma was acting on orders programmed before the Ultimate Despair's demise? Either way, it wasn't good.

Have you ever known the feeling of being prey? Of being the target of someone, or something, that wants to kill you so badly, that they'd use every ounce of strength to pierce through your heart and yank out everything inside, just to revel in the feeling of ecstasy? That was the feeling that took over that room right now. The chilling feel that made the temperature seem to drop almost every second, the idea that a single movement would result in being sliced by one of the hundred invisible blades that seem to surround each and every one of them. Even if the seven of them were to work together, even if they were able to synchronize their movements well, they still wouldn't be able to even scratch that small thing. Monokuma wasn't looking at any of them directly, but there was still a feeling of a hand grasping at their neck, like it was telling them that it could kill them at any time, and with such ease.

"Woah woah woah, let's all relax here. I don't want to cause too much of a fuss…" Monokuma held up its arms as if it was a gesture of good will, causing the tension in the room to ease up just a bit. There was a long exhale as everyone slowly sat down at their own pace. After all the seats were filled, Monokuma gave a small cough.

"Ahem. Let's take a moment to talk here." Waddling over to the table and using the metal box like a pedestal, it stretched out its arms.

"I, Monokuma, would like to invite all of you into the world of 'Hero's Conquest', where fun-filled adventures and exciting battles await you!"

There was a pause.

"Er, excuse me, but I think you need to give us a bit more to go on…" Rigby lightly scratched his face nervously.

"What?!" Monokuma seemed to be frowning. "Man, you are all a bigger bunch of stupid sissies than I thought! Oh well..." it made a sighing movement before explaining.

"Listen up kiddies! Outside, we've got a world that's in-between a state of falling in wonderful despair, and a boring old normal world with *blech* 'hope'. At the moment, each side has somewhat something of an army that is fighting each other. My 'Army of Despair' against that annoying Future Foundation and its 'Soldiers of Hope'."

"So then what's next? Are you going to tell us that we're part of your little 'Army of Despair'?" Fiorella smirked confidently.

"Nah, I don't need any losers on my team. Upupupupu…." As Monokuma made its laugh, Fiorella could feel a strong urge to strangle it. "Nah, the truth is that I'm just here to kill you. Plain and simple."

It held up its sharp claws while emitting a murderous intent. Alyson fell to her knees with tears starting to stream from his eyes. Ami was doing a bit better at dealing with the situation, but her hand was shaking, so it was mostly a front. Luciano was also putting up a tough front, but Fiorella didn't see emo boy being any better than Ami, nor did Rigby seem reliable at all, based on his personality. That only left Agustin and Kujou to help her out, and that meant it was three against one robot. But even with superior numbers, and even if she had the right information about Monokuma's functions and potential, it was still a really low chance that they could get anywhere.

"…Or at least that's what I'd LIKE to do." Monokuma relaxed itself and began to fold its paws(?) behind its back. "But it would be totally BORING if we were to just kill you off right now. And I wouldn't do me any good if you all just died like this without a large audience. So I'm gonna cut you guys a deal...Upupupupu…" It laughed again as everyone watched confused.

"Since I'm feeling pretty generous, I'm gonna give you all a sporting chance to complete in this game of 'Hero's Conquest'. If you win, there will be a grand prize for you all. But if you lose…" Monokuma made a cutting movement with a single claw across its neck. "Upupupu…didja get all that?"

Nobody spoke a word. There was already the feeling that Monokuma could kill them all immediately if it wanted to, but the only reason they weren't dead yet really WAS because it was simply bored.

Fiorella was stumped. Accepting Monokuma's terms would be the best chance to find a way to live through this hellhole. Monokuma might be a robot being controlled by a bastard, but from what she remembered, Monokuma doesn't usually lie, it just 'forgets to mention a few things', and the stuff he said about the conflict outside did match up the information she read about before. Plus, taking the time to follow up on this 'game' would give them all time to find a way to deal with that robot.

However, this was most likely a trap. They couldn't trust this stupid ro-bear as far as anyone could throw an enormous lead ball (Well, Agustin could probably throw a lead ball based on his muscles, but that wasn't the point!). And they still had no idea what Monokuma's plan was.

"I think…we should take up Monokuma's offer…"

Everyone turned to Ami, who was rubbing her neck.

"W-Well, it's not like we're gonna get anywhere without getting some information. And it seems like joining this game might just be the best way to go…"

Nobody said anything for a while. But eventually, Agustin spoke up as well.

"I'm…gonna go with Ami on this one." He sighed. "She brought up a good point. I mean if it means dying now or taking a chance to live it out, I'd rather take the chance than do nothing."

"O-Of course I'm gonna accept!" Alyson was trying to put up a tough front as she puffed her chest out. "I'm gonna accept this, and I'm gonna outlive through all of this! No way am I dying here!"

"Dying isn't an option for me either." Luciano stood up. "I'm not some side-bit character who'll die like a dog. Certainly not from a stupid bear like this one!"

"Upupupu. You remind me of another annoying little prick I know, Luci!"

""P-Prick…?" This clearly rattled him.

"I guess if we're all doing this, then I should get into this too…" Rigby was still acting nervous, but Fiorella could tell that he certainly strengthened his resolve.

Kujou grunted in agreement. She noted that this was probably a man of few words.

She was the only one left, but after hearing everyone else, there was no way that she would chicken out now.

"Of course I will. I was going to agree to these terms anyways, you know?"

Monokuma chuckled with its usual laugh before suddenly taking out cards that seemed to have poorly drawn pictures on them.

"Well then, I suppose I should explain the game here. In about one hour, I am going to start sending in my followers and copies to deal with all five of you. Of course, you are allowed to use that hour to either start walking or start preparing. Go buy some potions, gather some information, forge some weapons at the armory, even doing R-rated stuff is allowed. I mean, I'm not planning on peeking in on what you spoiled brats will do anyways."

Several people blushed at this last statement, but nobody said anything.

"Anyways, you all need to find a way to reach this special machine. As much as I hate to say it, there's a special tool of hope that exists there that could more or less settle this entire conflict once and for all."

The card Monokuma was holding up seemed to be a picture that looked like a coffin or one of those machines that was used to preserve bodies in ice in those sci-fi movies.

"Once you reach this machine, I will consider this game to end. Or course, it's not like that's gonna be easy…"

The next card had five simple black body figures with Monokuma's faces where their heads were supposed to be.

"I've set up five of my very own 'Denizens of Despair' to match up against the seven of you. These five are 'boss characters' for those of you who love a good video game. And you will get a special bonus prize by defeating each one of them!"

The last card it held had a line drawn across horizontally, with the top showing the poorly drawn group celebrating over the bodies of the five, and the bottom with the roles reversed.

"Simply put, if you guys can beat my 'Denizens of Despair' and reach the very end, you all win! But if you all die before reaching that final goal, then I, Monokuma, will claim victory! Got it?"

Tossing the cards away, it plopped onto the ground and started walking away. "Now that that's all settled, I'm gonna leave and give you all your one hour to prepare for the incoming fight. If you ask me, I'd say you should take the time to say your prayers! Upupupu…"

"Wait a minute!" Fiorella suddenly spoke out, causing Monokuma to turn towards her. "What the hell is this note about?"

"Note? What note?"

"This note that said not to open the box until we see the 'monochrome bear', which is you, obviously. Why did you leave it here?"

Monokuma did not seem to be listening, as it suddenly went into a small rage.

"Grrrr….Who dared to litter on the ground of mother earth?! It's simply unbearable! Even more importantly, why did they call me a monochrome bear?! I've got a name you know!" It started trying to act cute. "It's Monokuma! The mascot for despair and all future video games! GET IT RIGHT!"

After raging on the last bit, it seemed to have calmed down.

"Anyways, I've really got no idea what the heck that note is about. Whatever that box and that note was doing there, it has NOTHING to do with me. Heck, maybe YOU all wrote it down and forgot about it like the idiots you are!"

Fiorella bit her lip. At this point, it seemed like what Monokuma said was true. It didn't seem like it had anything to do with the box and the note, and it was possible that the box and note were somehow related to their missing memories. However this actually made things a bit less reassuring. This meant that there was absolutely no hints as to what were the contents inside, so the danger was impossible gauge.

"Well now, enough is enough! If you guys need help, you're all on your own! Catch you guys later!"

Before anyone could say anything, Monokuma had suddenly disappeared into thin air. Everyone blinked to make sure that they were seeing fine, but there was no trace of the robotic bear at all.

"Well, it looks like we have an hour then," Agustin spoke up after clearing his throat. "I guess we should probably start getting ready like he said.

"W-W-W-Wait a minute! Don't you think that we should talk about this?"

"What's there to talk about Allie?" Fiorella decided to stand up while sifting through her hair with her fingers. "We all need to work together to get through this mess. And even if that seem difficult for SOME of us…" she shifted her eyes to Luciano, who just replied with a small "hmph". "We don't have much of a choice. We can decide on what to do with this box later on…"

"B-But…"

"Don't worry Allie," Ami went over to Alyson's side and started holding her hands. "I'll stick together with you after I finish getting ready! I want us to be good friends after all!"

Alyson sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes using one of her arms. "Really?"

"Yeah, really!"

"A-All right then. I'll give you special permission to be friends with me. Be grateful for that!"

Exactly what kind of special permission was that? Fiorella decided that it was probably better not to ask.

"Hmph. I'd better get ready..." With that, Luciano left towards his room.

Eventually Kudou, Rigby, Agustin, Ami, and then Alyson all left towards their own room. Fiorella was the last one left.

To be honest, she felt a bit jealous about Alyson getting attention from Ami. The truth was that she also wanted to get along with the others, but she was a bit hesitant about doing so. Some of the other girls in her neighborhood weren't exactly friendly with kids of the same gender, especially nosy ones like her. And it didn't help that she couldn't really be honest with herself. But it seemed like it was the smart thing to do, especially with guys. It's not like she couldn't trust them, but with all the stuff she read, saw, heard, regarding guys and their...well…._that_… she had to put up a brave front. It always seemed like the meek ones who would be assaulted first.

Well, she wasted enough time. She decided to head back to her room like the others and look for anything that would be useful on their journey to who knows where.

As she started packing, she thought about the things Monokuma said. She never heard anything about any tool that could be the deciding factor in the battle with despair and hope. As far as she knew, something like that didn't exist. Maybe that meant that she was out for a while? Perhaps it was at least a few weeks since they were knocked out? Or maybe it was something that was just discovered. Monokuma did have a pretty good network of information, maybe better than hers. But then why leave it alone? Setting up guards didn't seem like the most logical thing to do. Or maybe there was a reason why Monokuma couldn't disrupt it in the first place? Maybe it was something that had to do with them?

She shook her head in frustration. No, it wasn't any good to think about this at the moment. Right now, she needed more info before putting the pieces together, and that meant making sure that all of them would stay alive at the moment, just in case it was something that they could all use to turn the tides to their favor. And even though she didn't know why, she felt that she could trust everyone, even that stuck up Luciano, even though they all just met each other moments ago. Maybe that was their bond in the past, before they lost their memories.

She smiled at the thought of having trustworthy friends, and then went to the doorway to take one last look at the room before heading back to the table. It was time to see what was inside that box and to plan out their strategy for winning this stupid game.

* * *

_**LITTLE bit shorter than the last one, but I decided to end that chapter here, and I'm sticking with that!**_

_**So we shall get to see what is inside that box that's been nothing more than a paperweight or pedestal so far. Is it a bomb? Is it a help screen? Is it books? Keys? Wands? Money? Gems? Or maybe it's a Monokuma fairy who wastes time following you around and saying annoying things? Let find out in the next chapter...**_


	4. Prologue - Hello, Goodbye

_**Hwa ha ha ha! Fast updates! Course, they'll probably slow down now.**_

_**Anyways, here's the last part of the Prologue...**_

* * *

A young girl sat in the dark of a rather large room. She watched silently as a disgustingly insane laughter echoed throughout the entire area, along with rapid footsteps, heavy breathing, and rather loud gunshots. It sounded like **she** was going on her usual rampage again. Gawds, she hated her. It made her sick knowing that she was told to work together with her in the first place. Actually, it made her sick knowing she had to work with any of THEM, period. She hated so many other people for so long, she couldn't even remember if this feeling of hatred was something natural or a habit anymore.

"A HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

The laughter continued to echo throughout the room with an annoying pitch. The girl turned to look around at her other companions, but none of them seemed interested in stopping the crazy shooter anytime soon. Each of them were doing their own thing, but that was expected since none of them were really "friends" in the slightest. If anything, they're just a bunch of rag tag people who were gathered for a single purpose.

"Dance for me! Dance like your life depends on it! Because you know that it does! A ha ha ha ha ha!"

She turned back to the pathetic man that was crawling on his knees underneath the single light that came from a hanging lamp. The man had a very terrified look on his face, and was trying to move away by crawling backwards. His legs seemed to have given out and he couldn't think straight, so actually running seemed out of the question. An arm stretched out from the light, holding a gun and pointed directly at the man.

"W-What the hell do you all want?!"

Two shots rang out.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

The man clenched his legs which were bleeding from the two newly made holes that appeared on his shins. There goes any chance of ever running at all.

"Awwww…that's so cute. You look like an injured little puppy who's been beaten like a bunch of school bullies…" The figure started walking into the light until only her head remained in the darkness.

The young shooter was wearing a black button-up shirt with short –sleeves which allowed maximum movement, along with a pair of black pants that had red vertical stripes on it, and black slip-on shoes that were attached with tiny red ribbons. The shooting girl's face couldn't be seen, but if one was able to read the atmosphere, there was a good chance that she was smiling.

"It's so adorable how you keep sniveling like a little child. Maybe I should give you a present…"

*CRUNCH*

"AAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

The man's hand was breeding profusely as the girl was repeatedly stomping all over it. She then followed it up by repeating it on the man's other hand, then his left feet, right feet, left arm, right arm, and so on until finally, the only thing that was intact was his head, which was hopelessly sobbing and sticky from all the tears and sweat that were covering it.

The shooting girl's excitement had continuously built up the more damage she caused the man. However this excitement seemed to have immediately faded at this point as she sighed.

"Great, now this is gonna be real boring…"

Taking her gun, she shot the man directly between the eyes, which rolled up as the last of his life was finally snuffed out. The girl went over towards rest of the group, took a seat, and started moaning.

"I am SOOOO bored…"

"Already? It hasn't even been minutes since you killed that man." The voice was a young man who held a calm tone. He was sitting with his legs crossed while reading a book.

"That's what I mean! Even one SECOND of not doing anything fun is a second wasted for me! I wanna go out and kill some more people! It doesn't matter who, it doesn't matter what! I just wanna have fun!"

"Upupupupu….It sounds like that I came at the perfect time!" Monokuma suddenly appeared out of nowhere like usual. Nobody really cared though, they all got used to it after the first ten or so times.

"Monokuma. What a surprise…" The young man closed his book and rested his head while using one of his hands for support. "What brings you here?"

The robotic bear folded his paws as it started pacing back and forth.

"The thing is kiddies, we've got a bunch of losers who are going off to find a special little tool that could seriously mess things up for my plans. So, I wanna ask you all instead to take up arms and defend the nation of Monokuma for the good of me!"

There was a moment of silence.

"What? Not enticing enough?"

Complaints were heard from everyone

"What a lame name!"

"You need to work on your country!"

"Change the stupid title or I'm gonna just leave on my own!"

"Give me details! I want more details!"

The boy sighed.

"We'll do it, but we're only going to do this for ourselves. That was the agreement we all made before joining you and your little group of despair."

"Man, what a bunch of killjoys." Monokuma made a sighing movement. "Ah well, whatever works for you…"

The five figures all stood up and started heading out the doors. Outside, they all passed through the large number of bodies that were laid out across in the immediate area. The first girl just glared at everything around her. Killing, living, torture, safety, none of this mattered. The only thing that stuck in her mind was sharing despair with everyone she knew. Despair was what people should suffer from, despair will bring the absolute truth to this damned world. Despair, despair, despair…

* * *

Alyson was gripping Ami's hand very tightly, like a child that clung to its mother. She knew that the others SAID that they weren't going to do anything, but she still couldn't trust them, especially the men. As far as she knew, their words were equal to trash that should be thrown away, burned, and then made into something, just so she could do it all over again.

Of course, she knew that getting along with the others would need to happen eventually, and it did seem like a good way to get over her problems from the past. But that's for later! All she needed was Ami for support right now, after all Ami is the most trustworthy one (That Fiorella isn't as bad as the guys, but she looks way too scary…)

"So it looks like we're all gathered here, but…" Rigby looked awkwardly at everyone. "We all need to agree whether to open this thing, right?"

The "thing" that Rigby was talking about was the large metal box that sat on the table that was in the room they were all in. When Alyson first saw it, she automatically knew that it was suspicious-looking from the beginning. But she could also tell that it was surprisingly well-made for a box. After all, no matter what they did to it, there wasn't a single scratch or dent made, so whatever was inside would definitely stay safe no matter what. But it still didn't help in learning about what was inside that seemed so important for such a box to carry.

"It'll be a pain in the ass to just carry that around, and we'd look way too conspicuous holding a giant metal box everywhere we go. Remember, we need to keep in mind that Monokuma will send out some of his 'soldiers' to try and kill us."

Fiorella had her legs crossed as she sat, and she was talking in a tone that made Alyson think of a teenager who was trying to act tough. She couldn't help but let out a small laugh, knowing that this tough girl was actually putting up an act.

Of course, she immediately silenced herself as she saw Fiorella turn her head in her direction.

"_She must have heard me!"_ was the thought that came to pass as she cowered behind Ami.

Fiorella's face didn't seem to have changed much, but deep down, she was probably really angry at her for laughing. Alyson was scared, but in her defense, Fiorella did bring it upon herself. Being dishonest with herself and putting up a tough front while she was probably actually scared inside. Not like her. She wasn't putting up any fake act or anything! Actually, she was just waiting for the right time to be honest! Yeah, she needs to make sure that they can all be trusted before she starts showing a bit more honesty in her own actions. It's not like she's really worried or anything.

"Anyways, I think the first thing we gotta do is decide whether to open the box or not, and we gotta do it quick."

"Excuse me?" Luciano seemed to disapprove of this. "Who died and left you in charge?"

Alyson wasn't very fond of Luciano since they first met. He was rich and really well off for sure, but he was too stuck up and snobbish to be really friends with at all. But maybe, if she was feeling generous, she could let him be something like a "partner" or something, IF he starts acting nice.

"If you remember, Luciano, Monokuma had already mentioned that we've got about an hour before we start getting shot at. It probably hasn't been too long, but we should still get a move on to wherever the heck we need to go."

"Yeah yeah. I remember. I'm just saying that the leader position hasn't exactly been decided yet."

"Look, let's just decide about this box first, then we can decide on the leader thing, alright?"

Luciano grunted, but he seemed to have agreed.

"Alright then, all those in favor of opening the box?"

Alyson took a look to see who raised their hands. Rigby, Agustin, Ami, Kujou, and Fiorella all agreed together.

"And…those in favor of leaving the box?"

Alyson turned to Luciano, who didn't raise his hand for either decision, which seemed to look like he was neither for nor against the idea. She couldn't help but smirk again at the boy who seemed to be trying hard to look cool. He turned to her direction and scowled at her, but he didn't seem as scary as Fiorella, so she didn't mind a bit.

"Alright, seems like it's a unanimous decision…" Fiorella turned to check one last time before slowly moving her thumb onto one of the scanners on the box. A thin bright line suddenly came from the top of the grid, moved downwards, and moved back up before there was a small *beep*

Identity confirmed – Fiorella Montanari

They all waited, but nothing seemed to have happened.

"I guess we all need to press our thumbs onto these things…" Rigby deduced as he followed Fiorella's lead.

One by one, everyone had pressed their thumbs on the grid, getting the same result each time. Eventually, Luciano was the only one left. He seemed really reluctant to join in, but he eventually agreed and pressed his own thumb into the last scanner.

All identities have been confirmed. Commencing operation 'Heroism of Operating Powerful Equipment'

What a lame naming sense…

Eventually, the box began to hiss as a gust of air suddenly expelled itself from the openings that started to reveal themselves. It began to move itself like a self-solving puzzle, making turns and shifts in its parts until eventually, an opening appeared from the top. Everyone cautiously stepped forward to get a glance inside. However the light that came from inside was way too bright for anyone to get a clear look, so they had to rely on just reaching in to pull something out, and hope that nothing would hurt.

Agustin was the first to go. He hesitated before slowly putting his hand through the opening and reaching around before finally taking out…a grip handle. Everyone looked at the thing confused, but there was no mistake. Agustin ended up taking something that looked like a grip handle. Of course there was a blue line patterned on it, and the thing looked like it was made with some kind of black metal, but the overall appearance seemed to have resembled a handle like on those exercise tools people carry around.

Rigby was next. They were all a bit dumbfounded by what they saw, but he was still cautious in taking out whatever he found. The result was…a measuring triangle and a thin black object.

"Hmm, guess I could find some kind of use for these things…"

Rigby didn't seem too disappointed in what he got, but Alyson felt nothing but pity at the moment. The tools was similar to Agustin's with blue lines to show the marks and numbers on the triangle, and the same kind of metal was used, but aside from that, they didn't really seem like anything special.

At this point, everyone was less reluctant in taking what they would find, and started just reaching in without hesitation.

Luciano got something that resembled Agustin's object, but thinner and attached with a thin rectangular box with a similar design.

Kujou received something that looked like a glove made with the same material and design, as well as another box.

Ami ended up getting a cool-looking band that would fit around her wrist, as well as a small pen.

Fiorella was the only one who seemed to have gotten anything that even seemed to be an actual weapon, but it was just a small set of four switchblades, and instead of metal, they seemed to have used some weird transparent glass for the blade. She also received something like a hand-sized cube.

Finally, it was Alyson's turn. She reached inside and found that what she grabbed was…a pin in the shape of a music note.

"Well THAT ended up being a complete waste of time…" Luciano grumbled as he pocketed the objects into his pocket. "Guess it wouldn't have mattered if we ended up opening the box or not in the first place. And now, not only have we wasted more time…"

"Shut up Luciano…" Fiorella was a bit disappointed, but she put the cube and switchblades in the bag she had with her nearby. "At least we learned that it wasn't anything dangerous."

"Actually, I kinda feel the same." Ribgy was twirling the measuring triangle with his finger while pocketing the thin object. "I was kinda hoping it was some sort of clue, but at least it wasn't something like a bomb."

Agustin sighed as he put his own object away in his pocket. "That's true. But I would've expected that there was a better reason for that strange box to be so sturdy..."

"Aw, I don't think it's really THAT bad," Ami was admiring her new accessory. "I think it looks pretty fashionable on me. Hey Allie, what do you think?"

"Huh? Uh, well…" Alyson was shifting her eyes as she felt her face getting warmer. She was conflicted about all this. For one thing, she agreed that the whole thing seemed kinda pointless. But for another thing, she did think that the music note pin was pretty cute. Course, she didn't plan on saying anything that would make her sound stupid.

Kujou didn't say a word, but he just placed his little present away somewhere in his cape. She never really noticed, but he didn't seem to say much, even when he looks unamused by all of this.

"Anyways, we should get back to business," Luciano brought everyone's attention back to himself. "What is our next step?"

Nobody said anything. They all knew that they would have eventually needed to leave and find this "thing" that Monokuma told them about, but they had no idea about how to even start. They didn't have any clues, any hints, no puzzles, not even a stupid intro story like in a lot of those RPG video games. And with every moment they wasted, the hour of safety was slowing coming to an end.

"Uh, Firoella…" The tan-skinned girl turned to Rigby. "You **are** the SHSL Informationalist, so any clues on where to go?"

That's right! Someone who gathers information for a living must have at least an idea of where this "thing" is.

"Nope, I'm completely clueless on this."

That's what she gets for getting her hopes up.

"To be honest, I never heard of anything like this 'weapon' or whatever. I've been gathering information every day, and nothing about that has ever popped up before."

"So, this is something more recent?" Ami jumped in with a curious look on her face. "I mean if you never heard of this, then it was probably something that appeared while we were knocked out."

"Right. I don't know how long we've been knocked out, but I'm guessing that within that small time frame, this 'thing' popped up and became known to both sides."

"Makes sense. So then I guess the first thing we should do is…"

"Try and find a computer."

"Huh?"

Fiorella grinned. "I'm not really one to brag, but I'm actually pretty good at getting any kind of information anywhere at any time. Just set me up with computer, and I'll be able to hack into any database within a few minutes."

"Impressive," Agustin was grinning as well. "Then you might be able to find information on how this whole mess got started?"

"Probably. And I might be able to even find this location of where this 'thing' is as well."

"Then I guess it's settled."

Everyone gathered their things and went to the door that had a large "EXIT" sign hanging above it.

"You guys ready?"

Hearing these words, Alyson clenched onto Ami's skirt tightly as they all took their first steps into the world outside…

* * *

_**Man, what a disappointment huh? Turns out the box holds nothing but strange objects. Weird, kind thought there'd be more to it...**_

_**Anyways, first chapter starts next. Hope you guys get interested, and we'll see what we can do.**_

_**P.S. If you guys want to offer better names, go ahead. I'm not guaranteeing a change, but we can see...**_


	5. Chapter 1 - Out of the Frying pan

_**Phew...finally the next chapter.**_

_**Had tests and such to deal with, and hopefully you guys are still with me.**_

* * *

Kujou was crossing his legs as he sat on a rather large piece of rubble that was stuck in the ground. He turned to watch as Fiorella and Luciano were arguing about which way to go.

"I distinctly remember looking at a map online! We need to go THIS way to find any civilization!"

"An online map? I've actually been in the area just a couple weeks ago! You should listen to me and go THIS way!"

"Um…considering how much the world seems to have changed, I don't think it really matters at this point." Ami interrupted while giving an awkward smile. "If you ask me, I think we may as well pick any direction that looks good, and…"

""SHUT UP HITOMI!""

The "cute" girl suddenly went into a fetal position while puffing her cheeks out and etching in the dirt with her finger. Kujou sighed to himself as he blankly stared at the area in front of him.

It's been a while since the group finally left that empty building they found themselves in. However their discovery of the current state was far from pleasant.

A large ruined world was awaiting to greet them the moment they stepped outside. Half-ruined buildings lined up across the streets, empty and dusty, as if nobody had lived there for a long time. Rubble of cement and half-broken machinery lay scattered on the ground everywhere. There was nothing but silence aside from the noise that they themselves made while looking around. There wasn't a single hint of life to be found anywhere they went, no birds, no animals, not even a single insect could be seen.

It was still a mystery just how long they were all knocked out, but it shouldn't have been too long since there was barely any change in how they looked. Even if a person would take the time to cut hair, clip nails, and wash their bodies, all to keep up appearances, it still couldn't be done so neatly that almost nobody would notice.

So based on the difference of appearances on themselves and the area, they were probably brought into that building AFTER the place was deserted. However, that still didn't explain what caused this destruction.

"It must have been that group of despair that Monokuma leads," Fiorella deduced. She crossed her arms while frowning at the sight that lay before them. "I've heard that a lot trouble started because of them. Massacres and ritual-style sacrifices were a common thing as well. Even self-inflicting injuries were a common thing because of their inhumane obsession with despair."

Alyson had covered her ears while cowering as Fiorella continued. It was quite obvious that she didn't have any intention of listening any further, but Kujou didn't blame her. He heard rumors of that group of despair that would make even a trained soldier gag in disgust. The things they did were just THAT terrible, and deep down, he hoped that the day when it would all end would happen soon.

Although they still had a bit of time before Monokuma began sending assassins to hunt them down, they all agreed to set up a strategic formation while looking around, just in case there was any random attacks by outsiders.

Agustin would take the very front of the group as the front-liner. As a hunter, he was skilled in looking out for traps, trained for superior hearing and eyesight to catch anything abnormal in the area, and had good instincts on what would be the best course for immediate action.

He would take directions from Fiorella and/or Luciano, who were following right behind him to give directions. Neither of them seemed to be letting up on the leader position. Luciano was insistent on taking the leadership role since he claimed to have great knowledge of the world and how to get through this whole ordeal. However Fiorella insisted that she took up the role for the moment because she said she read up on all the latest information and went through the most recent rumors that cropped up online. Everyone else decided that until they could come to some sort of agreement, they would just let the two argue it out.

Rigby was in the very middle of the formation. Even though he didn't seem like the most reliable of the group, he had pretty good eyes as part of his talent as an artist, and he could probably pick up things here and there that could help in avoiding trouble. Plus, he might be able to catch up on something that Agustin might have missed, though that seemed very unlikely.

Ami and Alyson were left following the artist. No matter how Kujou saw them, neither of them were much of a fighter or good at seeing through things. Perhaps Alyson could be an extra set of ears, but her personality would make her more a hindrance than useful, so she stuck to Ami, who seemed just as equally useless.

Kujou himself was left taking up the rear. As the Warrior, he had the most battle experience, which meant that he was the only one who could deal with any trouble, or at least draw out some time, to keep the Linguist and Musician (and maybe the Artist) from getting killed. He grabbed a thin metal pipe that was just sticking in the ground. It wasn't a sword or anything, but it was better than nothing.

The seven of them walked in a line for what was probably a few minutes, but it was hard to tell since there still wasn't any way of telling time.

Their cell phones vanished while they were knocked out, so there wasn't any way of communicating either. They couldn't see the sun since there were buildings all around them, so it was hard to tell whether it was morning or late afternoon.

Nobody really seemed to have minded though. Fiorella and Luciano were talking about which way to go, Ami and Alyson were talking with Rigby about things that Kujou just ignored, and Agustin was focused on keeping the rest of them safe, so it seemed like things would be calm for a while.

Of course, that only lasted until they came to a fork in the road that looked equally suspicious in either path. Luciano and Fiorella had argued about which way to go, so the rest of them decided to just take a small break and sit together while the two sorted things out.

Kujou decided to sit a bit further away from the rest of the group. He wasn't going to go too far, since he still had to keep himself sharp at any time now, but he wasn't feeling friendly enough with the others to tell them about himself. At least not at the moment. He wasn't sure if they understood or just ignored him, but they didn't say anything, so he guessed that it was fine.

He took in a deep breath as he thought about his family. They might be worried about him, considering that he was gone for a while. Well, except his father, who didn't really give a damn about him or his sister. Of course, he did worry about him regardless. Despite what he did, Kujou still consider him as his parent, and he was at least somewhat grateful for leaving him at the dojo with his sister and mother. He ended up learning a lot that would help in their chances of survival, so that was a good thing. Of course, it still didn't mean that he completely forgave what he did while they were young.

He turned to watch the others. Ami was pestering Agustin and Rigby a bit with something. Agustin was keeping his eyes closed, but Rigby was just awkwardly trying to go along with things. Alyson was sitting nearby, yawning while looking half-tired. Well, it HAS been a long day (or at least it felt like it). Luciano and Fiorella were still arguing with each other. Frankily, he didn't think it mattered, since they might end up reaching the same place anyways, and there still wasn't any idea about how to reach their destination.

Plus, something that Monokuma said was bothering him. It said that it was offering them all a chance by having them complete this stupid little game, but it felt like Monokuma chose them in particular. Maybe he was just overthinking this, and maybe it was just by chance that Monokuma chose them to do something for its own amusement, but to choose a group that happened to have just appeared at the same building, and happened to have all been the key to opening that strange box? He remembered what happened when they all pressed their hands on the scanners. It seemed like those scanners were meant for them in particular, not just anybody. So that probably meant that whoever sent them to that building was NOT part of Monokuma's plan, which explained why Monokuma said those things before…

"_Note? What note?"_

"_Whatever that box and that note was doing there, it has NOTHING to do with me."_

But then again, Monokuma could have set things up after leaving them in their rooms. As far as they all knew, it could have been lying.

And yet, it felt like it really didn't have anything to do with Monokuma. So what exactly could it…

"!"

Kujou paused. He suddenly felt something staring at him. He couldn't tell who or what it was, or where it even came from, but it was definitely something that was waiting for them in particular.

He shifted his eyes to Agustin, who seemed to have noticed as well, and silently brought his finger to his lips to silently tell everyone to keep quiet. The loudmouths must have noticed as well, because they immediately silenced themselves midsentence.

Looks like their hour of freedom was finally up.

The pressure was slowly growing, the air grew thicker with each passing second. Kujou knew that the growing pressure meant that more of them were coming. He felt like an animal being watched by a group of hunters. It wasn't like they weren't aware of them, but any sudden moves would be stupid and could cost them their lives. The first thing they needed to do was gauge the danger that these intruders brought.

Gripping his pipe, he slowly got up and walked over to the rest of the group while keeping an ear out for any sudden movements. They probably didn't need to worry about any assassins, since a trained assassin wouldn't make themselves known so loudly, but the numbers were enough to worry him. There was a good chance that they were outnumbered, and if they all attacked at once, it didn't seem like he and Agustin would be able to protect the other five. If worse comes worse, Fiorella could just use her strange knives as a threat or at least inflict some kind of injury to them.

He was only 10 steps away, but he could tell that they were making their move. He looked around. No obstructions for long-range attacks, but no figures were hiding behind walls, so it was all close-range right now. That was bit reassuring.

7 steps. He could hear more movement. Agustin was forming his hands into fists. He was getting ready.

4 steps. They would need to act quickly. This wasn't just practice, so he shouldn't take things lightly.

2 steps. They'd strike in a few seconds. Now's the time.

He pushed away from the ground as hard as he could and started running towards the west. A couple of figures jumped out and revealed themselves.

They looked like they were normal humans. They were wearing everyday clothes, and they were definitely standing and acting like thugs or punks. But they were wearing Monokuma masks that covered their entire face and most of their heads from the front. They had makeshift weapons like him, but their stance was weak so they were totally normal people trying to act tough.

Kujou took the pipe and swung it with a strong, yet graceful, movement. The pipe knocked the enemy's weapons away with ease, and he kicked them each in the stomach, making them stagger. He then landed a blow on the back of their heads to knock them out. He couldn't kill them since he didn't want their blood on his hands, so he held back his strength just enough to leave them in a small coma. More of them popped out, but Kujou knew to deal with them in a similar fashion.

He glanced at Agustin, who was using his strength to knock out the enemies with his fist, then toss them over to knock over others, or leave their bodies out to lie on the ground. The rest of the group were gathered together safely, keeping themselves away from the fight as much as possible.

He turned back to his own targets, and continued his fight by swinging the pipe around. He tried to keep them from getting lasting injuries, but every once in a while, he had to swing at their arms, legs, and ribs, causing a few bones to break. He was sure that they wouldn't die, but these injuries were too dangerous to just let them alone. And yet, these guys didn't seem to mind. They still threw themselves at them without any regards to their safety.

This wasn't looking good. Zealots like these were the most dangerous since they'd sacrifice their entire body for their cause, so he couldn't hold back too much. But at the same time, he might end up killing them, which might be fine, except murder might come back to bite him later on in the future.

"Damnit…"

He quickly turned back to the others, who were already surrounded by the group, and Agustin already had his hands full taking care of the group surrounding him. There wasn't time to think, he smashed the pipe into the group in front of him as hard as he could, then he started running over to the others. Taking his cape as he ran, he tossed it over, covering a few of those zealots and stopping them for only a few seconds. However, those few seconds were all he needed as he smashed the pipe into the left side of one of them, and sent them flying a short distance.

"You guys alright?" he took a deep breath as he asked. Ami and Alyson quickly nodded, while Fiorella and Rigby opened their mouths, but said nothing. Luciano seemed like he was trying to say something, but Kujou couldn't spare the time to listen. There were already other people coming over.

"Agustin! We need to retreat!"

The hunter nodded as he threw a couple more people out of the way. He ran to the others, and grabbed Rigby and Fiorella before running through an opening to escape. Kujou took Alyson and heaved her over his shoulder before running after. Luciano and Ami were left to run on their own, but they had no trouble keeping up. They all ran as fast as they could, ignoring the hands that seemed to try and grab them. He could hear Alyson mumbling something to herself while keeping her ears covered, but he didn't stop to listen. They finally escaped the large group of people, but they kept running as fast as they could, moving further and further away, without any thoughts about which way to go.

Eventually, they came to a spot where it seemed like they would be safe. It was one of the higher floors of a desolate building, closer to the middle where they wouldn't need to worry about being found for a time.

Taking the opportunity to catch their breaths, Kujou stared at the others. He lost his makeshift weapon earlier while trying to knock away some of their pursuers, which meant his fighting strength decreased quite a bit.

"Well **that** was absolutely pointless!" Luciano scowled as he quickly recovered. "They were just mindless drones who were no better than thugs, and we _still_ couldn't beat them!"

"Shut up Luciano," Fiorella angrily spoke as she leaned against a large piece of cement. "They overpowered us with numbers. Besides, it's not like **you** did anything to help those two out…"

"Guys guys, let's all calm down…" Rigby held his hands up to try and keep peace between the two. "It doesn't matter right now about what just happened. We gotta think about how to deal with them and whatever else might come out way…"

"What do you mean how to deal with them?! It seems pretty obvious what is going on here! It's either kill or be killed! We already know that these guys don't plan on letting us letting us just run off free, and death is the best case scenario. In the worst case, they might just…"

"NOOOO!"

Upon hearing Luciano's words, Alyson suddenly curled up to herself and covered her ears with her hands, shaking her head the entire time.

"Geez Luci! What's the matter with you?"

"L-Luci?!"

Ami didn't follow up with her sudden nickname, instead sitting next to Alyson while wrapping her arm around the small girl's body.

"It's alright Allie, no need to worry, we're all here for you…"

Alyson buried her head into Ami's chest while crying.

"Let's just think about this for a moment," Fiorella crossed her arms as she spoke. "Luciano has a point. As much as I hate to admit it, it would be best to kill off the followers before they killed us. However, I have a pretty good feeling that Monokuma wants us to do that."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Simple. All the data I've gotten on Monokuma said that in each of his goals, he intended on using murders as a way to show how despair can take over. By killing the others, we may end up actually helping him instead."

"So what? We just let them kill us? That sounds like fun…"

"I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly fond of the idea of dying so easily. I say that we attack, but we try to keep as many people alive as possible. It may be a bit harder, but we can lower their numbers and also prove to the people that we won't give into to the despair."

Agustin started to think. "I can set up some basic traps here and there, which should help buy us some time to hide if they start getting too close. But we'd still need to figure out a plan in case we get surrounded."

"I think I can clear a way if I need to," Fiorella said as she showed off her new equipment. "They kinda suck as far as practicality, but I can at least get in a few blows with this thing if I need to."

"Then Lucino and I can lead Ami and Alyson out into the open and we'll try to get to a safe distance." Rigby pounded his chest. "The three of you just need to hold off until then, and we'll all leave together to try and reach a safe distance."

"I think this should work for now…" Fiorella nodded to herself. "Then all those in favor?"

Seven hands were raised.

"Seems like 'Luci' can think smart at times…"

"Hm?"

Luciano raised his head with his arms crossed. "I didn't do anything…"

Everyone froze. Fiorella counted once more. There were seven hands, all right hands, currently in the air. If Luciano didn't raise his hand, then…

She turned to the seventh unfamiliar hand, which belonged to a young girl who wore a black button-up shirt, a red bow tie, a pair of black slip-ons, and a pair of black pants with vertical stripes. Her hair was about chin-length and was styled with layers and edges all around, giving them all a good look at the disturbingly creepy smile that protruded from her mouth.

"Heya guys! I just thought I heard something fun, so I wanted to get in on it all!"

* * *

_**Well, out of the frying pan and into the fire. Looks like somebody is gonna die next chapter...maybe...**_

_**And still not one step closer to even getting to their goal. What you guys think?**_

_**Sorry if it seems boring, but I'm really hoping that this starts to pick up soon. Just gotta keep things "dramatic" and all...**_

_**Also, I appreciate the good reviews I've received so far. As always, let me know if something needs to be improved on.**_


	6. Chapter 1 - Sayonara Losers!

_**Phew. I've got exams this week, so I might need another week, maybe more, for a new update.**_

_**Anyways, here's the next chapter of "Hero's Conquest"...**_

* * *

"Hm? It appears that Pikachi has disappeared somehow…"

At the top of a large ruined building, a young man with curly, wavy, dark brown hair spoke as he adjusted his glasses with one hand. The colors in his eyes matched with his hair, but they somehow seemed to look darker in contrast to the whites that surrounded the voids. He wore a light brown tartan open coat with matching pants and a white dress shirt underneath, along with a pair of black boots that were just barely seen underneath the leg cuffs. However, a choker was worn around his neck with a white cross figurine attached to it, and a necklace, made from a kind of metal, was hanging out from the pocket in his coat. Overall, he appeared to look like the studious detective-type with a hint of "seventh-grader syndrome" showing.

"Well, I suppose there's no problem with that. After all, we all agreed to go at our own pace…" the young man was holding a book in his hands, which rested at his side closed so that the red leather cover was all that anyone could see. Another figure was crossing her arms with a slightly frustrated look on her face.

"Hmph, you think that she found out where those fools that Monokuma mentioned are?"

The young woman's hair was long and black, styled into a pair of twin tails to keep it from reaching too far down. However it was still long enough to hang just above her waist. The rest of her hair was neatly styled to that straight cut bangs were the only possible anomaly at first glance. She was about an average height for her age, but her body was lean and thin, which seemed a good envy to those of the same gender. Her clothing consisted of a v-neck sweater with a dusty wrap-around shirt underneath, and a pair of tight red shorts with a belt that was fastened tight around her shorts, giving a bit of an alluring feel. A strange-looking wristband was wrapped around her left wrist, and a pair of black high boots finished the look.

"Who knows Miko? I mean that girl is very unpredictable…"

**Miko Kotowari  
"Denizen of Despair member"  
SHSL Demolitionist**

"Don't give me that crap Oscar. You're the last person I would ever honestly hear that from…"

**Oscar Ackerman  
"Denizen of Despair member"  
SHSL Inspector**

"Oh really?"

"You knew perfectly well that she would go out on her own, just so that she could kill some time."

"Well I admit, I expected her to leave. However I didn't think she would go chasing after the others so soon…"

Miko gave a look of disgust at the smiling boy. That grin that he wore obviously said to her "Of course I knew, but so what?" They haven't really known each other that well, despite how long they all had been together. However, she could tell when the others were lying.

But she decided to say nothing. It seemed too irritating to tell him what she knew, and Pikachi would've found some way to escape their grasp regardless. She did however, threw another look of disgust at Oscar before turning back to the space ahead of her.

"Hard to believe that it's been about a year now. I'm actually surprised that we all managed to stay together that long."

The five of them, Pikachi, Oscar, Miko, and the other two, had all been gathered together by Monokuma, who found them all and brought them to become leaders of its more minor followers. The reason they were chosen instead of the others, was partially because they were all SHSL students and were useful tools in bringing Monokuma's world of despair. Of course, nobody in the group really cared about Monokuma's reasons, much less the idea of working with four total strangers that they've never even heard of before. But the monochrome robotic bear didn't really give them much of a choice in the matter, so they grudgingly agreed to at least stay close in the same area for about 70% of the time.

"I agree. You'd think that that maniac would've shot us all at first chance. Perhaps there's a reason that she didn't?"

"Well whatever. I guess all we should do is hope that she doesn't waste too much time on those brats…"

* * *

This was bad…

"HA HA HA HA HA HA! WHY DON'T YOU ALL COME OUT AND PLAY?!"

Ami held her hands up to her ears while hiding behind a rather large piece of rubble, along with Allie, who was cringing right next to her.

As soon as that weird girl spoke, she suddenly took out a pair of guns and started wildly shooting at them. Of course, they all immediately ran in different directions, but it was still pretty close. She quickly looked past to see where her friends were.

The closest one was Rigby, who was fingering his ears nearby while shifting a glance to check on her and Allie occasionally. Agustin and Kojou were behind rubble a few feet away from Ami's position. Fiore's position was right across from her own while Luci's was about halfway between Rigby and Fiore's.

"_Wait a minute…_"

Putting that into an image, she realized that connecting their positions would make a sort of kite with an extra dot between Fiore and Rigby's position, and this gunner in the middle of it all!

She lightly smacked herself. This wasn't the time to think about strange coincidences. Right now, the important thing was finding some way to fight back.

She wasn't too proud to admit that she wasn't as smart as people like Fiore and Luci, but she realized that if the noise continued too long, those scary followers from earlier would probably find them easily and capture them without trouble this time. But they still needed some way to fight, and there wasn't any weapons just lying around. Well, there was the pieces of rubble and metal, but she couldn't use them like Kujou or Agustin, and she might end up helping this crazy girl accidentally.

The shooting stopped. Ami slowly inched her way to try and see what was going on, then quickly shifted her head back as she heard a gunshot just seconds ago. The bullet pierced through a bit of her hair, but she didn't care about that right now. She knew that this girl wasn't like those stupid thugs in manga and anime. This was a professional. Someone who knew how to wield a gun and had the sense to know how, when, and where to shoot without wasting bullets. One false move might end up being their last if they weren't careful.

She turned to Allie, who was hugging herself closely with a sad face. She gave a small pat on the girl's back before going back to the main problem. They had the young girl surrounded (sorta) but they can't just expect a full frontal assault to work.

"Hey you!" She recognized the voice as Luci's. "What's your name?"

"Does something as stupid as a name really matter right now? You guys are alllll gonna die! Ha ha ha ha!" The shooter laughed with a cold tone that sent shivers to Ami's spine.

"Why don't you tell us anyways? I'd like to know the people I'm against so that I can keep records of their deaths for my reports!"

"Well, I don't think you're gonna write up a report THIS time! But why not? I don't mind telling you…" There was a small chuckle as she announced herself.

"Fu fu fu fu… my name is Pikachi Shion, I'm the SHSL Gunslinger!"

**Pikachi Shion  
"Denizen of Despair member"  
SHSL Gunslinger**

Gunslinger. This really is starting to seem like some real life video game. But her skills were no joke. Each of those shots were too close for comfort, and she seemed to have the instincts and senses to immediately hit any of them if given the chance.

"A Gunslinger huh? I suppose that explains the long-range weapons, but I think you're a pretty lousy shot for a supposed expert. I mean you didn't even get to hit any of us even once!"

The linguist was puzzled. Luci's provocation didn't seem to make sense to her. This was a shooter he was yelling at, and in a one-sided battle at that! Why was he doing this?

"He he he…you think so? Let me tell you a little something…" she heard a small click. "I like to savor the taste of fear and despair that my targets give, just before I kill them. The feeling of power, the ecstasy of inflicting pain, the chills I get from just taking someone's life…ohhhhhh….I love it all…"

Ami thought she heard something like licking from Pikachi's position, but she didn't dare peek to find out. Things were already creepy enough.

"Anyways, I love to savor the battle, so I'm just letting you go off easy to see how long till you piss your pants!"

This was definitely no lie. She could easily kill them off, even if they had the element of surprise. The only reason she didn't was because she just didn't want to let this end quick. Maybe they could use that to their advantage.

"So you plan on letting us go? How thoughtful…"

"Oh no don't worry, I'll kill you all. Just not so quickly…"

A step was taken.

"I'll kill you all…"

Another step was taken.

"…after seeing the terror on your faces…"

Step

"One…"

Step

"By…"

Step

"One…"

Step

"By…"

Step

"One…"

The sounds of steps ended. Ami felt some chilling at her neck. She didn't want to turn, she had an idea of what was going on, but she didn't want to turn. And yet, as if controlled by some strange force, she turned her head anyways. She slowly turned to the source of the strange feeling, and slowly opened her mouth with an immeasurable sense of fear to see a metal pistol pointing directly at her. She saw Pikachi's face, which held a twisted and childish look of pleasure, the bright smile that made her insides turn cold.

"Found you!"

Ami immediately closed her eyes, bracing for the sudden rush of pain that would flood her. However she heard something at Pikachi's position. She hesitated, but slowly opened her eyes to see Rigby trying to pin the girl down as best as he could. Luckily, it didn't seem like the gunner's strength was too different from the artist's, but she had enough strength to struggle and make things harder for him. The others seemed to have noticed and was running over to help. But it wasn't fast enough.

*BANG*

Ribgy groaned as the bullet grazed his right arm, hitting just the flesh at the edge of his arm, but still enough to leave a trail of blood leaking from the wound. Pikachi's pistol was aimed directly at the bones, but he shifted himself just enough to avoid a direct hit.

Was it luck? Could it have been instinct? None of that mattered at the moment. The fact was that the wound made Rigby's strength weaker, and the gunner took the advantage to escape from his grip and was standing with one pistol aimed at his chest, and the other pointed at the other four, all while she smiled the entire time.

"I'm impressed! I didn't expect one of you to have the balls to actually try something like that!" She stared at Rigby while talking. "As thanks, I'll give you some more time to live. But you might wish that I just killed you outright…" as she said those words, her eyes steeled. "You'd be surprised how long a person can live from a calculated shot to the chest, as well as the length of time that pain would last…"

Everyone silently froze. All seemed lost at this moment. It seemed like nothing they did would help. Worst of all, Rigby was going to be the first to suffer a long and painful fate.

But just then, she thought she heard something. It was faint, but it sounded like a small plastic puzzle moving around. Pikachi must have heard it too, because she suddenly made a more serious face while turning to the other four. Nobody seemed to have moved, but the sound was still there. Suddenly, there was a small glow beneath Kujou's cape. He was doing something, but Ami wasn't sure what.

"What the…"

Kujou suddenly dashed forward while holding a long thing black object, and swiped the space where the gunslinger stood moments before she quickly leapt away. Kujou continued to swing his new weapon with incredible speed. However, the girl was quite agile, and she was able to avoid all his attacks without taking a single cut. The two seemed evenly matched, but what exactly was that thing that Kujou had?

The two of them were at a momentary stalemate, and kept a fair distance in-between them. Taking a good look at Kujou's weapon, she realized that the weapons seemed to have been a black katana.

There wasn't any tsuba on the weapon, but she could tell that Kujou didn't seem to need it. He looked more confident and seemed to be more reliable just by having something in his hands. Of course, he WAS the SHSL warrior. But taking a closer look, the blade and handle seemed to have been both made with a familiar-looking material. Something she saw recently…

"_Those weird objects!"_

She glanced her band, which was made with the same material. Was that what these things were meant for? To provide them with weapons that they could use? It would've been nice to have known that earlier!

"Ho? Seems like you kids got some interesting toys there…"

Pikachi's gaze didn't falter. In fact, it looked even more excited.

"That's great! Now it makes things a lot more interesting! That'll make the look on your faces all the more sweeter!"

She dashed directly towards Kujou, who was ready for her and blocked her charge with his blade. But she immediately swung her leg over to hit him on the side. He cringed as the shot made a rough hit on his ribs, but he seemed mostly fine as he immediately swung his arm for a hit. The gunslinger couldn't dodge this attack, and there was a small hint of pain on her face as the two made direct contact. Using the momentum of the light blow, she spun herself to her feet and started firing with the pistols in her hands.

This was bad. Kujou was left wide open for her attacks. It didn't look like the Warrior was able to defend himself, so she started to panic.

"Kujou!"

Just as she yelled, Agustin suddenly appeared in front of him with a small black knife. Skillfully wielding it, the hunter managed to deflect the bullets just enough to shift them towards the ground without hitting anyone.

So Agustin was able to use his present as well. This brought some relief to Ami as the situation seemed to be working more favorably towards them. But the gunslinger's attitude didn't seem to change. On the contrary, she actually seemed to be smiling wider.

"Good GOOD! Now THIS is a BATTLE!"

She wasn't moving as much, but she was aiming faster and shooting more rapidly. Agustin was either deflecting the shots or dodging them while Kujou was swiftly running to make it harder for Pikachi to hit him. This continued on for a good while before they suddenly heard a small clicking sound. Pikachi frowned.

"Ah dammit. Looks like I ran outta ammo…"

This was their chance. Without bullets, they didn't need to worry too much about getting fatally wounded. Agustin and Kujou simultaneously ran in opposite directions and charged after her at the same speed like mirror images. They each readied their hands to capture the shooter as a prisoner. Even if she tried to kill them, they couldn't let her die without first giving them some information. That's why they were determined to capture her alive.

But that thought was too naïve.

"JUUUUUST KIDDING!"

Pikachi's face had a wide smile with her tongue sticking out to the side, as if trying to taste the air, showing off some insanity. She then performed a spin kick, twirling her legs quickly, forcing the Kujou to duck while Agustin backed off. At the same time, she threw one of her pistols at the acting Kujou, striking him in the face and making him flinch momentarily. She then used her legs to knock Kujou's katana out of his hands, leaving him defenseless. She then stuck her tongue out once again, this time revealing a hidden bullet from her mouth, then spitting it into the one pistol she held in her hand. Kujou crossed his arms in front of his face, bracing himself for the shot. But instead, Pikachi dropped the pistol and wrapped her hands around his throat instead, slowly tightening her grip with a look of pleasure at the sight.

Kujou was struggling to try and escape, but the sudden lack of oxygen was making him weaker and weaker by the second. Agustin was hesitating because the wrong move could end up killing the warrior immediately. Ami froze as the helplessness was sinking in once again. The idea that someone was going to die in front of her was horrifying. They didn't really know each other that well, but still…

Something flew in-between Kujou and Pikachi, causing her to unintentionally loosen her grip as she turned her head in surprise.

"Dammit Kujou! You're being more trouble than you're worth!"

It was Luci, holding a black long bow in his hand from behind some rubble for cover.

"S…Sorry…" Kujou wheezed as he gasped for breath.

Luci's fired shot after shot, each carefully aimed at the gunslinger, who's smile finally seemed to falter. An arrow or two managed to just lightly graze her skin, so droplets of blood fell to the ground. Pikachi's hands were stuffed in her pockets, as she slightly cocked her head.

"Hmmm…now it looks like it might be tough…" She gave another smile. "Guess I'd better transform…"

Posing with a sentai-hero style look, she swung her arm before raising it into the air.

"Let's go! Monoku…"

Suddenly, another hand shot out and grabbed the gunslinger's.

Ami turned to see a calmer-looking girl with twin tail-styled hair staring at the gunslinger, then at their group, before giving a small sigh.

"Hey Miko! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Pikachi looked seriously displeased as she struggled to escape from her grip. The one called Miko seemed to have been an acquaintance, but she also seemed more careful of the two.

"Monokuma's orders you rash idiot. We're supposed to kill them at the special stages since we're supposed to be 'boss' characters."

"Boss" characters? Strange weapons? Missions? Guess Monokuma really meant took things literally when it said "game".

"Shut up! If I want to see blood, I make it rain blood! That's what it's like!"

"Do you want me to kill you then?"

The girl called Miko gave a dark glare at the gunslinger, giving Ami a slightly greater chill than earlier. If that's the kind of people that they were all up against, this was going to be a lot more trouble than they thought.

Pikachi glared back for a couple minutes before she finally sighed, then she slowly walked over to pick up her pistols and hid them away behind her back.

"Fine fine… I don't wanna fight you anyways…" The look on her face was definitely anger. Ami knew that the gunslinger would've probably gone wild, but she reluctantly obeyed this new girl. Was the difference really that much? Or was there another reason?

Pikachi was about to leave when she suddenly turned and made a pistol shape with her hand.

"Hey, next time we meet, I'm gonna make sure you all die a slow and very painful death." She pointed the "pistol" to her head and made the "shot".

"BANG!"

She smiled before pocketing her hands and leaving the room.

"Seeya!"

The gunslinger disappeared, leaving only the new girl glaring at each of them.

"Now then. As you heard, the only time we can kill you personally is at a special stage that is set up at several locations. If you end up getting captured, or wander inside, we'll fight you all with the intention to kill."

"Is there a reason why we would wanna do that?" Luci rested his free hand on his waist while gripping the bow tightly.

"Well…perhaps you will see for yourself if you manage to defeat one of us…"

Ami frowned. Monokuma did say there was a "prize" or something involved with their defeat, but is it really worth taking the time to fight against the five of them?

"Of course, that's assuming you get out of here alive as well…"

"Hm?" Everyone was confused.

"Direct confrontations deaths outside of the stage isn't allowed. But if you died from an unexpected 'accident', well that's another story…"

Agustin and Kujou started to move to grab this strange woman named Miko, but she threw something into the ground, causing smoke to suddenly exhume and fill the area. Nobody could see anything about a foot away, except shadows and black blurs. When the smoke cleared, Miko had disappeared, leaving them all without any answers.

"Geez, so those are the kind of guys we need to deal with? And to think there are three more…" Luci's pinched his forehead as with a look of annoyance on his face. Ami silently agreed that the idea of fighting off three more of those kinds of people would be both dangerous and exhausting. But momentarily putting that aside, there was one other thing she wanted to focus on.

"Er…you guys mind telling me where you got those weapons from?" She pointed to Kujou and Agustin, and the sharp objects that they held in their hands.

"These are those strange objects that we found from that box. Apparantly they change shape to suit our talents."

So she was right.

"I kinda got that. My question is how?"

"That's…"

Before she could get an answer, there was a large explosion from one of the floors underneath. The area shook, throwing them all slightly off-balance.

"What the…"

"What the hell was that?"

Ami dropped to her knees as the tremor continued.

*Crack*

The floor underneath them began to crack, along with the ceiling. Even more pieces of cement began to fall towards each of them, and the rest worsened the condition of the floor.

"Dammit! Everyone! We need to get away!"

Those were the last words Kujou spoke before large debris suddenly cut away everyone's sight of him.

"Kujou!"

Ami yelled out, but there was no reply. She could only watch as Agustin and Luciano separated from her sight, then Fiore and the wounded Rigby. She turned to Allie, who was holding herself close, and dashed as fast as she could with her arms spread out before the remaining pieces of debris fell around them, causing the floor around them to fall apart…

* * *

_**And they were never heard from again...**_

_**Or something like that. Hope you all had a good Halloween. If I had the money, I think I would've gone out as Monokuma.**_

_**But of course, most of my money is going to all the awesome new video game and saving up for the PS4, as well as University stuff, so that's not happening anytime soon. Soooooo...I'm probably just gonna stick to finding a Monokuma Doll.**_

_**Well, now you guys have an idea of what that strange stuff they got was used for. But would that seem any good at this point? I mean they are falling towards their death, aren't they?**_

_**As always, review however you want. Negative ones are always welcome, as well as the positive ones.**_

_**As for me, I'm gonna go back to studying and having my brain experimented on...**_


	7. Chapter 1 - Artist and Informationalist

**_Ugh, I know I should have been studying and working, but I just didn't want to, and decided to work on this chapter instead. And I want Thanksgiving break to come already, I just wanna sleep..._**

**_Ah well, here's the next chapter guys..._**

* * *

Miko watched as the building slowly collapsed into a pile of rubble as a result of her actions.

She always carried around a few packs of C4 explosives she made herself. Each of them set to go off at a certain time as soon as she set it up. You never know when a bomb would be handy in a world as crazy as it is right now.

"Well, as expected of the SHSL demolitionist…"

She turned her head to see Oscar standing nearby with a grin. One of his arms rested on his hip while the other still held that book that he was reading. It would be a lie to say that she wasn't just a smidge curious about what the book was about, but she didn't think reading was really appropriate in this world, and the contents would've probably been crap to her anyways.

"What do you want Oscar?"

"I'm just here to make sure that you didn't lose our comrade like last time."

"I lose? You already admitted to leaving her be just about a damn hour ago."

"Uh, I'm right here guys…" Pikachi was waving her hand as she just stood with a bored look on her face.

"Ah yes. Well no matter. The point is that we have managed to get our friend back, and now we can start getting to work." His glasses seemed to have glinted from the reflecting light, partially hiding his eyes. However Miko could still see the coldness that seeped out from his face.

"_Yes, when ze time comes, we shall all be ready for the coming of ze great despair. Cies Magnific…"_

"Oscar, your accent is showing again…"

"Whoops, pardon me…" Oscar adjusted his glasses as he reverted back to his "regular" form.

"Anyways. You think that they will all make it to each 'stage'?"

"Perhaps. Do you think that they didn't make it from that 'accident' that occurred earlier?"

"I personally hope that they make it," the gunslinger answered with a smile as she began twirling one of her pistols with her finger. "I really wanted to savor the look of despair on their faces, and it wouldn't be fun if they all died from something as boring as this…"

"Whether they survived or not doesn't matter to me," Miko coldly said as she pocketed her hands. "The world is a cruel piece of crap to live on, and life can be a real bi**h…"

"Perhaps, but did you think Monokuma chose these people in particular because they wouldn't die so easily?"

"Well even if they survived, they'll quickly wish for death soon enough." The three of them turned to leave the area. "They wouldn't last more than three days in this hellhole…"

* * *

_He was only six years old. He didn't really have many friends, but that was expected since many of the other kids would tease him about his tattered clothing and worn-out shoes._

_He couldn't help it that his family was poor._

_But that didn't matter to him. He knew his parents were trying to do their best, and he still loved them for it. He especially loved the way his father would create a copy of the image that he saw through that amazing pair of binoculars. The way that he gave them perfect form, the details of everything from the beak all the way to the down feathers and small feet, it was almost as if they were about to come alive._

_That's exactly what started it all…_

"Uh…"

Rigby slowly opened his eyes to see the stars in the night sky. It looked like kind of like a simple painting, yet they were done so masterfully, like it was a hidden wonder.

Wait…night?

He quickly sat up to look around. However a sharp jolt occurred on his arm which made him subconsciously cover it with his other hand. Everything started coming back to him.

He saw that gunslinger called Pikachi hold a pistol right in front of Ami's face. After he saw the terrified look she gave, his body suddenly started moving on his own. He tried to pin her down, but he ended up getting shot in the arm and lost strength. He was about to die, but then Kujou did something that ended up in a fight between him and her with support from Agustin and Luciano.

Then there was the other girl that appeared. He felt something disturbing like with Pikachi, but it was more hidden, like something was covering the full "feel". There was an explosion, the room started collapsing, and then…everything went blank. He passed out from the pain and excessive blood loss, and suddenly found himself lying on the ground, staring up at the sky.

He checked his wound to see a piece of light fabric with blood partially soaked into it. Also, there was a lit fire made from a small pile of sticks, so someone must have been tending to his wound, but who was it?

"So you're finally awake…"

He turned to see Fiorella sitting on a piece of rubble with one leg hanging on the side while the other was on top, almost parallel to the surface that it was lying on.

"Fiorella?"

"I said you can call me 'Fiore' if you wanted." She sighed.

"Sorry. Fiore…you're the one who was helping me?"

"Don't get the wrong idea," the Informationalist was scratching the back of her head embarrassingly. "I-I just saw you and nobody else was around, so I did the best that I could…"

Taking a closer look, he noticed that she was definitely dustier than when he last saw her. Actually, they were both dusty, so they did fall somewhere, but apparently they managed to get out of it without too much damage. He also noticed that her skirt was slightly torn, showing only a bit more skin than before.

"Um Fiore, why is your dress…" it suddenly dawned on him what was being used as his makeshift bandage. His face went a bit red. "Er…never mind. Thanks…"

"It's alright. I don't think appearances is really important right now…" she got off the piece of rubble and sat down at his left, sitting with her legs brought to her chest, but out of sight from what was underneath her skirt. He gave a small smile before the pain started to hurt a bit again.

"How's the wound?"

"It doesn't feel like anything's broken, but I wouldn't expect anything for a while. More importantly," he spoke in a more serious tone. "What was that earlier?"

"That" was referring to Kujou's weapon. It looked like a katana, but it was black and had no tsuba attached to it. Also, it looked like it was made with the same material as those strange objects they found earlier.

Fiorella didn't say anything for a while, but she eventually gave in.

"The truth is…I'm not really sure…"

"Huh?"

Rigby wasn't satisfied with this answer. Everything was just too confusing for him to take in, and he was starting to get tired of all the unanswered questions being saddled with even more questions. Exactly what were they supposed to do? What did those people from before want? How did they get into those rooms, and why did that weird safe hold all that stuff?

"What I meant was that I didn't know exactly what this stuff is." She held one of her knives, which had a handle made of the same material. "I just noticed the transformative part a bit before we were suddenly attacked by those freaks in masks. I was arguing with Luciano about which way to go, and I took that cube I got with the intention of hitting him, when we both saw it suddenly transform into…well…just watch…"

Fiorella showed him the cube she held, and gripped it tightly. It suddenly had bright lines passing through it, then it started rearranging itself like a Rubik cube. But instead of keeping its cubic shape, some of the cubes suddenly started to move themselves to different places. More than half of them were even starting to smooth themselves out, like they were molding themselves into a smooth, curved surface.

When it all stopped, it looked like one of those portable screens that people could carry around with them, or those PSP handheld systems, but wider and bigger.

"That's not all…" She pressed one of the buttons that seemed to have appeared, then the screen lit up. Rigby was surprised at this unexpected turn out, but with everything that happened, he was starting to get used to it.

The screen suddenly changed from white to a bright black with the words "Heroism of Operating Powerful Equipment" in green. The words suddenly disappeared, except for the first letters in each word (save for "of").

"H…O…P…E… Hope?"

"Yeah, it looks like Monokuma really wasn't lying about that part…"

"_Listen up kiddies! Outside, we've got a world that's in-between a state of falling in wonderful despair, and a boring old normal world with *blech* 'hope'. At the moment, each side has somewhat something of an army that is fighting each other. My 'Army of Despair' against that annoying Future Foundation and its 'Soldiers of Hope'."_

"So then I guess we're supposed to be part of the side with hope?"

"That seems to be the case. Anyways, look again…"

Turning back to the screen, the artist saw that the screen suddenly changed, and filled itself with more of those blue lines that formed a wide arrangement of words and pictures of objects and faces. His own face was among those, as well as everyone else from their group, and it looked like the words were all information about himself.

"So…this is a data-based item?"

"Yeah. It looks like it was specifically made for me, though I have no idea who did this."

"But even so. Does that mean that…"

"You can do the same? Yeah. Seems like it. That's what Luciano and I thought when we saw this happen, but we weren't sure whether it was safe or not, so we decided to stay quiet for a bit. Course that angry mob that attacked us didn't really help either."

Rigby could more or less get the picture. Earlier, while Pikachi was focused on the two of them. She or Luciano must have told Kujou and Agustin about this, and had them ready themselves in case they needed it. That must have been how Kujou was able to use it so quickly, because he expected something like that blade to form itself.

He took out his own objects, and gripped them tightly. The triangle transformed first. It extended itself into a larger, thinner version of itself, and spikes protruded themselves from the corners. At first he was disappointed, but they suddenly began to emit electricity from the space between the tips of the spikes.

The other one only brought out something that looked like a dulled spike at one end. He realized that it was a pen.

"A pen? That's the only other thing you get?"

Normally, he would've agreed. But something about this pen made him want to make something. He took out a notepad he brought with him, and started drawing out a picture of a bird from his memories. As he drew, the "ink" that came out seemed to reflect the light from the fire. When he finished, the ink suddenly began to glow, then the shape began to distort. Like a cartoon, the picture seemed to have lifted itself from the paper, then suddenly, an actual bird appeared in its place.

It wasn't a cartoon either. It was a real flesh and blood bird that was chirping and moving by itself. Rigby smiled as he stuck a finger out, allowing the bird to prop itself onto it and sit there while looking at him.

"Hmph, it's not all that great…" Fiorella turned her head while frowning, but the artist could tell that she seemed pretty jealous of his new stuff.

"Well, I guess that means that we found our stuff to fight back with…"

"Yeah," the Informationalist turned back with a normal face. "But we'd better regroup with the rest of the guys first. I don't think Ami and Alyson know about this, and if they're by themselves, it'll be pretty dangerous."

"We'd better get some rest first." Rigby was reluctant to just leave anyone alone, but he couldn't do anything right now wounded. He could only hope that they all found some way to get through the night without any excessive trouble, and that they'd all regroup in the morning.

"We can take turns watching out through the night," Fiorella proposed. "We can't be too careful, and now that you know, I feel a bit more relieved knowing that we can defend ourselves." She stuck her index finger out towards Rigby while smiling. "So, can you make any good food with that stuff?"

"Well, I guess I could give it a shot…"

* * *

_**So yeah, there's the end. It's short because I couldn't think of anything else. I have no plans for pairings, so if you wanna talk about it or something, you'd better let me know first.**_

_**I wanna get the new Tales game for the Vita, but it doesn't come out until next week, so I have to wait.**_

_**Alright, enough complaining. As always, reviews are welcome and I'll try to get the next chapter in within a week or so, if I can keep the motivation going...**_


	8. Chapter 1 - Luci and the two Lame-os

_**Not as short as the last one, but still fairly shorter than most.**_

_**Man, I should be working on my other fanfics, but I don't know if I'll ever brainstorm on them again...**_

_**Well, here's the next chapter.**_

_**(Warning: This may seem pretty rushed, so I apologize for that...)**_

* * *

Luciano heavily sighed as he glanced around.

After the explosion, he woke up to find himself surrounded by a pile of rubble. Luckily, nothing seemed to be broken, but they were all separated from the destruction. That other despair member, Miko, she must have been the one who caused the building to collapse like that.

After dusting himself off and giving one more pat-down on himself to make sure nothing was wrong, he did a quick search for his bag before leaving the immediate area. Separated or not, he couldn't just wait around for something to happen. He needed to take the initiative.

"_Remember Luciano. If you want to accomplish many things in life, you can't just wait around for something to happen. You must grasp the future with your own hands."_

That's right. His grandfather was the one who taught him to grasp whatever he wanted with his own hands. No matter the pain, no matter how sad, if you want something, you needed to put in your own effort for it.

He tried to look around for something familiar, but all the buildings and the landscape looked too similar to tell apart. Sighing, he decided to just keep walking to see if he could find either any other members of the group, or if he could find some kind of shelter. He still had doubts about the others, but it didn't seem like they were likely to be aligned with Monokuma, and cooperation is currently the best choice to take at the moment. He can always leave if things lead to a standstill.

"Hey! Luci!"

Hearing that childish nickname, Luciano groaned before slowly turning his head towards the source of the voice. It was Ami Hitomi and Alyson Mann, both running towards him.

"Luci! There you are! Man, what luck to find someone else here!"

Ami gave a small sigh as she caught her breath. The Archer gave a quick look over her body, as well as Alyson's. Neither of them looked like they were badly hurt either, but then again, he didn't expect them to die so easily, even if he wanted them dead.

"You see any of the others?" he decided to ask.

"Eheh, sorry." The Linguist made an apologetic face as Alyson moved closer. "I only ended up stuck with Allie here. Doesn't seem like the others were nearby, so we decided to look around together."

"I see...I trust you found something useful?"

"Nope! Not a single thing!" She gave a small salute. "Everything looked the same no matter where we went!"

He flicked her forehead.

"OW!"

Crouching down with her hands on her forehead, she shed a couple tears in pain. Allie worriedly checked on her before yelling at him.

"Hey Jerk! What's the big idea picking on Ami here?!"

"She told me something that was completely pointless. I simply dealt a fair punishment…"

"Wha- That's so stupid!"

Luciano silenced himself. There was no point in arguing with a spoiled child. They needed to start moving soon.

"Hey! I'm talking to you! You eye patch wearing freak!"

Luciano heard her, but he still didn't answer. Something just caught his eye which gave him an uncomfortable feeling. He took both his objects, and clenched them tightly like that battle earlier against the gunslinger. The box with the grip transformed to form a black long bow with a good grip handle. The other one extended itself and opened up to reveal several arrows made with the same material inside it. He swiftly took an arrow and fired it at the spot that bothered him. There was a small *thunk* at the arrow pierced its mark and left it on the ground. Ignoring the shocked faces of the musician, he went over to find a person wearing a Monokuma mask and his arrow stuck through his head. Looking at the man's hands, he saw a rifle, loaded and ready to kill. He must have been planning on killing the three of them.

"Luci! What is i….oh my…"

Ami covered her mouth with her hands in surprise while Alyson was heading over.

"Hey what's going on he…Ami? What's going on?"

"You shouldn't look…"

Ami wrapped herself around Alyson to cover her sight. She wasn't happy, but she nodded at him as she gave a second look at the man, knowing that there probably wasn't any choice.

Luciano frowned. He didn't know the man. He knew that he needed to make the first strike to survive. He knew that shooting him in the head was the best way for the three of them to get out of it. It was one less soldier for Monokuma to use.

But it still didn't make him feel much better.

He was used to taking down practice targets and had occasionally shot people in the limbs to immobilize them. But to take a life was another feeling altogether. It wasn't a good or a bad feeling, just…uncomfortable.

He sighed. Taking the arrow out, he wiped it using the dead man's shirt and placed it along with the others. The strange quiver and bow transformed back into their original forms, and he put them away before turning around.

"Let's go. There might be more nearby."

The three of them silently left together.

* * *

At the evening, Luciano was sitting with his arms crossed.

What happened earlier was still bothering him a bit, but that wasn't why he was thinking. It was about those strange objects they all received at the beginning.

He first saw them at work when Fiorella was planning on hitting him with hers. That transformation opened his eyes as he realized that they were all tools that were meant to be used by each of them.

However it seemed too perfect. He was the SHSL Archer, so a bow and arrow would have been easy to guess. But Fiorella's tool was also perfect for her, almost as if whoever gave it to her knew about her talent. But as far as he knew, she didn't share this info with anyone aside from them, so how could they know?

Another thing was what that Miko girl said. A "special stage"? Is there a reason for Monokuma to make that into a rule? It would've been a lot more efficient to simply kill them all outright at that very moment, so why would they need the "stage" at all? Then again, this entire quest made no sense. Why wouldn't this bear want to simply remove its enemies at the first chance?

"Hey Luci! Are you alright?"

He coughed.

Ami and Alyson were a bit further out washing themselves off in a small spring hole that they happened to find. It was clean enough to drink out of, so they gathered some to heat for their dinner, and agreed to use the rest to clean themselves off. The girls would go in first while Luciano ate, then they would switch off.

The archer wasn't interested in seeing the girl's naked bodies, but it might damage his reputation if he was accused as a peeping tom, so he kept himself facing the opposite direction until they were finished. Once in a while though, he would cough to remind the absent-minded linguist to mind her manners.

"Geez, I'm just trying to tell you that we're almost done…"

"Just finish up then put some clothes on…"

After the bath and the meal, the three of them sat down near the fire to talk. Luciano also explained the discovery about those strange objects to the other two. He was hesitant about doing so, but decided that it was better for them to know about it now, since the group was separated which divided their strengths. Ami was fiddling around with her wristband after hearing what he had to say.

"Cool! So there was an awesome feature installed in these things?"

He was starting to wonder if she was naturally ignorant about important details, or if she just couldn't hear them.

"Don't you think it's suspicious that they seemed to have been customized to fit our particular talents?"

"Well yeah, but if it helps us survive, I don't really see the problem here. We'd probably figure it out some time in the future, but until then, it's nice to have these around!"

He turned to the Musician, who seemed more skeptic about this than her friend. She held the pin in her hand, but she seemed fairly hesitant about activating hers.

"What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing, nothing at all…" she put the pin back onto her clothes.

Luciano gave a small sigh before tossing another piece of wood into the fire.

"Let's talk about what's our next step. I think we need to keep moving ahead and search for some kind of civilization here."

The Informationalist wanted to try finding something like a computer to learn more about their situation, so there was a good chance that she would start searching for someplace that would have something she could use. And even if they didn't meet up, it would be more helpful to find better shelter that they could use for a couple days or so, in case of emergencies. They'd never know when exactly how long it would take for this whole "game" to end.

"'Kaaaay!"

Ami raised her hand cheerfully in agreement, almost like she was enjoying this whole thing. Allyson just scooted herself closer to her friend silently.

Dealing with two made him feel even more exhausted than he thought.

"Let's just get to sleep. I doubt those fanatics would attack us at night."

They might be crazed desperate fools who would do almost anything to bring about a world of despair, but in the end, they were human too, so they would need to rest like any other person.

Setting the boundary between the girls and himself, they used some of the blankets they took from their bags to keep themselves warm while they rested, but Luciano kept his senses sharp, just in case there was an unexpected attack.

* * *

In the morning, the trio gathered their things and quickly washed up before walking further down through the barely visible road. While Luciano kept his eye open for any more fanatics, Ami was walking next to Allyson and talking about something. He didn't bother listening to the whole thing since it didn't really interest him, but he heard a few things like "love" or "interests".

Such things were pointless in his mind. Ever since he was young, he never thought about such things. Part of the reason was because he couldn't, or at least he felt he couldn't, waste any time on useless matters like that. He needed to reach the top with his own power, and so he made use of his grandfather's willingness to give him the education he needed to do so, focusing his mind on improving his talents. He wanted to secure the spot of being the world's best archer no matter what. That way, he would prove to all those who looked down on him that he got what he deserved. He'd prove them all wrong, like that one who took away the vision in his right eye, like the people who were jealous of his talents,

Like his own parent, who disowned him.

Feeling extremely bitter all of a sudden, he clenched his fist so tightly that he could feel his own fingernails dig into his hands. He quickly relaxed himself and lightly brushed through his hair with his fingers.

"Hey Luci…"

"It's Luciano…"

"Luci…isn't that a shelter there?"

Turning to the place that Ami was pointing at, the archer turned to see a small gathering of makeshift shelters and figures sitting near the openings. It was too far to notice, but it looks like the Linguist was right, it was a shelter.

But was it safe?

"We can take a look, but make sure that you keep those objects in your hands, just in case…"

The other two nodded as the three walked over tensely.

* * *

After entering, they looked around the area, but there wasn't really any reactions from the figures that they could see. There was food, which was still fairly fresh enough that there weren't any insects or any signs of animals eating them, and fire, which was burning in oilcans using trash and fabric as fuel. Also, there were makeshift shelters made from old fabric and wood, like the kinds that the homeless would use to keep themselves dry, some which were just recently made. Like they were made yesterday.

But the figures they were all just sitting around or lying on the ground, covered in worn-out clothing or sheets, almost like they were…

Luciano froze. He quickly went over to one of the figures and checked their heads, his left eye widening as it began to comprehend what it saw.

The figure was an old man, whose face looked like it needed a shave, and had bits of dirt and grime on it. He wore an old jacket and torn pants with sandals, as well as a worn-out beanie that covered up most of his grey hair. However the thing that stuck out was his eyes, which were rolled backwards towards his brain, and the hold in his forehead, which had some blood trickling out from the opening.

Ignoring Allyson's scream, he checked more of the figures that were around, and sure enough, they were all figures who were dead with the same wound, a hold in the head. Almost like it was made by a bullet.

"Hey hey hey! What do we have here?!"

The three of them turned to the source of the voice, which came from the top of the building a bit further down.

The figure was stepping forward to give a slightly better view of her appearance. With a black, short-sleeved button-up shirt, the red bow tie, the black and red vertically striped pants, and the black slip-ons with red ribbons, they all immediately recognized her.

The gunslinger from yesterday that tried to kill them,

Pikachi Shion. The SHSL Gunslinger.

"YA HA HA HA HA! This is great! I get to toy around with you kids even sooner than I thought!"

She pointed her pistols at the trio with a wide, crazy grin.

"Now then! I suppose this is the part where we get to cry out BOSS FIGHT!"

* * *

_**Alright. So now the trio had met the Gunslinger again. Is this really a fight? Or is this some strong plot branch...a whatever. I'll be honest, it's a fight.**_

_**And to be even more honest, I'm not really sure that much about how to do the fight yet, so I'm not sure how long it'll take.**_

_**But I'm guessing at least a few days, maybe a week or two, depending on how my brain works and how much schoolwork I get.**_

_**So that's that. Please review, again I apologize if this chapter didn't seem as good as the others, and I'll try to post up the next chapter when I can.**_


	9. Chapter 1 - First Boss: Gunslinger

**_Next chapter, another update..._**

**_Not really much to say here..._**

* * *

Pikachi was lying on the rooftop of a building, staring at the sky.

A wide arrangement of dead bodies were spread out through the entire city, each with a single bullet shot in their heads.

Well, she was the only one left who needed some kind of "stage" set up for any fighting, so she had to make sure that the city was "vacant" for when those kids came by.

She remembered that she's lived as a renegade gunslinger for a long time now. At this point, the reason why had become such a blur. All she could remember was laughter, the cries of her targets, the ringing in her ears from the endless gunshots that sounded off, and the sound of bones breaking.

She told herself that it wasn't anything important. All that mattered to her was enjoying herself to the fullest. She would shoot whatever she wanted, revel in the sight of despair that froze on the faces of her victims, enjoy the thrill of hunting that any hunter felt when tracking down a helpless prey.

And yet, there was a feeling of emptiness deep down. She wasn't sure why, but it bothered her a lot and she couldn't understand. She's killed millions, she agreed to work with people who also agreed to work with Monokuma to bring about a world of despair, she enjoyed doing what she did.

So why…

"AHHHHHHH!"

She perked up after hearing the scream and turned to see three familiar figures several miles away.

Oh well, right now she had a job to do, so thinking can come later. Right now the important thing was grabbing their attention.

* * *

Alyson was clenching onto Ami's dress tightly, like a child holding their security blanket, as Luciano was checking the body.

This was crazy! How the hell could that stuck up guy stay so calm over a dead body? Any normal person should freak out after seeing that! A murder victim whose eyes are rolled over towards the back of his own skull! She felt sick just from the look of it!

Even worse, she saw that the cause of death was a bullet hole that was shot into where she was pretty sure the brain was. But only one person came to mind when she saw the hole…

"Hey hey hey! What do we have here?!"

They all turned to see Pikachi Shion, the SHSL gunslinger who was trying to kill them before!

Alyson whimpered as she tried to hide behind Ami. This whole thing was insane! That crazy woman wants to kill them all, and all they had to defend themselves were Luciano's bow and arrows, and who knows how many shots he could get in before he ran out of ammo!

"Wait a minute…" The gunslinger was looking around before giving a look of disappointment. "Where the hell are the other four? Don't tell me you all split up on your own…"

"We were separated from the explosion back there." Ami shouted out in reply. "That's why there's only a few of us here!"

"Explosion?" The gunslinger seemed to be confused for a moment. "Oh right! That was Miko's work. Not mine, so I completely forgot about that!" She sighed. "So not only do I get less people to play with, I have to get the weakest looking ones too. Just my luck…"

"You dare to call us weak?" Luciano was visibly angry. "I won't let that slide. Come down and fight us!"

"Uh, I don't think so…" Pikachi shrugged before pointing one of her pistols at Luciano. "I'm the freakin bad guy here, remember? I don't need to play by any stupid rules, except for the ones I make myself here!" She shot several times, making Ami cringe with her hands up. However when she looked back, the bullets only pierced the ground around them. Luciano and Ami didn't move, staring right at the gunslinger with a determined look in their eyes. The musician suddenly felt embarrassed for being the only one to react.

"Huh, so I guess I now know who the biggest sissy is around here…" She cocked her pistols before grinning. "Anyways, I guess Monokuma's gonna need to start explaining things here…"

Just as she said that, a large TV screen suddenly popped up from the ground and flashed open to show Monokuma's face on front of a large red background.

"Ahem… hello, hello, hello out there! This is your lovable mascot Monokuma here! How ya all doing?!"

Things were just getting weirder and weirder all the time. Ami was starting to wonder if this was big weird dream she was having.

"I can see that we've got ourselves a first time battle here! So I need to explain the rules to all of you tuning in to this channel right here! In the corner of despair, we've got the almighty gunslinger who's crazy in mind and soul, but her shots can reach your hearts, both figuratively and literally. The super shooter, Pikachi Shion!"

The screen momentarily changed to show a close up view of Pikachi, who just smirked at the camera.

"…and on the other corner of hope, we've got these losers…"

In response to the duller intro, the screen then changed to show a backside view of the trio. Ami turned to look, but the screen had already changed before she could find the camera.

"So anyways, I think we've got to lay down a few rules about how this battle is gonna go."

"Battle? What battle?"

"Oh little Ami, how naive and stupid you are! I suppose I'm gonna need to explain this obvious fact to you as well!"

The screen shifted to show another poorly drawn diagram of three figures facing one blackened figure with a giant VS in the space between them.

"As I've said before, my people of 'despair' are like 'boss characters' in video games that you idiots of hope must face in order to proceed. However, like all the great boss battles, you need to have a fight to the death with your party. Seeing as you three have been put together, you are automatically classified as a 'party', so you need to work together to fight against my super soldier here!"

The diagram changed so that the three figures were on top of the blackened with a present hovering above them.

"If you manage to win against my soldier, you get a nice little present for you troubles."

This time, the diagram changed with the roles reversed and a large "GAME OVER" printed on the middle.

"Buuuuut, should my soldier win, it's pretty much game, freakin, over for all you losers, and the next party will need to take up the challenge!"

The screen went back to Monokuma's face.

"So, is that clear enough for you?!"

"I still don't see why we need to do this…"

"Ah Ami. Stupid, stupid, stupid Ami. We'll get to that when it becomes something you need to know. So maybe around….NEVER! UPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPU!"

With the laugh, the screen suddenly went black and dug itself back deep into the ground, leaving a crate where it used to be.

"So that's the thing guys. It's either you win or lose. Simple, right?!"

Luciano brought out his bow and arrows. "One more question, what exactly do you get out of this?"

"Excuse me?"

"I can tell that you're a person who does whatever she wants, so I'd like to know what exactly makes you agree to Monokuma's terms instead of going against that dumb bear."

Pikachi pondered for a moment.

"I don't wanna answer!"

Luciano looked like he was about to press on further, but Pikachi disappeared out of view before he could speak. Gritting his teeth, he suddenly pulled Ami and Alyson into a nearby building and hid them all in the shadows.

"Alright. I don't like doing this, but we don't have any alternatives. We're going to need to work together in order to bring her down."

Alyson nodded her head. She saw how good Pikachi was, so they needed to take every advantage they had to get through this.

"We still don't know what both your objects produce, so we should try to see what they do. Summon them like I did last time."

The two of them gripped their objects tightly, and watched as they each started to change.

Alyson watched as her pin suddenly grew larger and bulkier, contradicting the original size as a pin. As the form changed, she noticed that it started take a familiar shape.

The form was overall thin and kinda pointed at one end, almost like a pencil. However, the other side had a more round base. In-between, several joints were built on the outside, but blue lines were still shining throughout the entire body. Alyson opened her mouth in shock as she saw that the object was a clarinet.

Holding it, she bitterly scoffed inside. This instrument held nothing but bitter memories of her past.

She looked over to see Ami, whose object didn't seem to have changed much. The armband only became bigger, but there was a screen and a few buttons that appeared on it, and Ami's other object, the pen, only started to glow at the tip.

"Huh, this seems pretty cool…" Ami started drawing in the air where light of her doodles hung suspended like they were underwater. "Course, I'm not sure how this could help…"

"I can find at least one use for that," Luciano declared before turning to Alyson. "That too. There's a chance we might be able to win this if we follow my plan."

"Are you sure about that?" Alyson doubted Luciano's words. No matter how cool these things were, she seriously doubt that they could beat the gunslinger with their toys.

"A skilled strategist uses whatever he's given, no matter how useless they may seem. Now here's the plan…"

* * *

Ami was hiding behind some rubble while tightly gripping her pen. She was getting nervous about Luci's plan, especially since she didn't know most of it.

"_Ami, you're going to wait until Pikachi shows up nearby. You'll then need to draw her attention using your pen, leading her away towards a certain area."_

"_Alright, what else?"_

"_That's not something you need to know. It'll be more effective if you aren't aware of the next step."_

"_Wha?! But…"_

"_Enough, just do what I say…"_

Being assigned the role of decoy against her will wasn't the most reassuring thought, but she trusted Luci enough to keep her alive…mostly.

She wasn't really one to turn down requests anyways. It sorta became a habit after a while. She wanted to make friends during her childhood, but if her classmates knew the real her she was afraid that they'd turn her down or pick on her. So she started acting differently than she did before. A more likeable person who the other girls in her class would find fun and entertaining, while the guys would be attracted to her and ask her out to parties.

But in the end, it was all a lie. She became so enveloped in the lie, that it felt impossible to tell the truth anymore. But now, in a world where things have gone topsy-turvy, maybe it was good time to be honest. To tell the others about the real her…

*Step*

*Step*

*Step*

She perked up a bit as she heard footsteps. Being very careful not to give away her position, she slowly moved to see the gunslinger walking slowly with a very empty look on her face. She seemed like she was expecting one of them to appear soon, making Ami nervous since an expectant animal would be difficult to draw in without getting hurt.

But she needed to stick to the plan, so she took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself.

"I can hear you breathing you know. Just come on out."

Her heart stopped. She was already found and she might end up getting shot at the moment she revealed herself. However she couldn't turn back now.

She stood up and slowly turned to stare straight ahead at the gunslinger.

"Lemmie guess, you wanna know just how I could tell that you were there."

"Am I really that easy to read?" She needed to buy some time. Luci said he wanted her to drag things out as much as possible.

"Kinda, but that's sort of disappointing in a way…" Pikachi used her left hand to hold both pistols while using her right to point to her ears. "A good hunter can their senses to pick up on their targets. The big guy who looks like an expert hunter, should now this pretty well."

She must be referring to Agustin. It would be more assuring to have him around right now.

"Anyways, I could hear your heartbeats pretty well from here. Next time you're getting chased, think about keeping calm in any situation. It'll help you live longer."

Ami swallowed hard. Pikachi was probably joking, since she had no intention of leaving her alive. But the Linguist did her best to muster up a smile, despite the situation. There was a chance, if she was right in understanding her personality.

"So…is this supposed to be the part where I'm going to get shot at and die?"

Pikachi looked like she was thinking half-heartedly. "Well that's the plan…"

Ami gripped her hand, the feeling of sweat covering her palms.

"But, I think I'll have a little fun before I actually start tying the noose."

An evil twisted smile began to form on the gunslinger's face. But Ami was starting to relax a bit, as this was the opportunity she was looking for.

Pikachi was someone who wanted to prolong suffering as long as possible. A sadist, in other words. By making things seem more boring, there was a good chance that the gunslinger would try to find some way to entertain herself as much as possible. This way, Ami might be able to drag her over to their destination.

"Seeing as you're the decoy, I'm going to pretend like I have no idea what you're doing and follow you all the way to wherever you need to take me. My shots will be aimed at non-fatal areas, but I'm seriously going to try to kill you somewhat."

"How…thoughtful…"

"Of course, if nothing happens after that, or if you take too long, I'm just going to kill you quickly. I'm in a bit of a schedule after all…"

The Linguist tried to ignore these taunts, but it was harder to keep up a tough front. To be honest, she wanted to run right now, but she had to wait until she was "allowed" first.

"How about I start chasing after…oh say...at the count of 10?" She pointed her pistol at Ami, with a smile like a child at the carnival game.

"Ready…"

Ami braced herself for a long run.

"One…two…"

After "two", Ami pushed her feet away from her original spot, moving away from Pikachi's direction, and running as fast as she could.

"Three…our…ve…"

The voice was getting faint, but she couldn't stop to turn around and check. She knew that stopping would end up with pain, and that was something she was pretty sure very few people would enjoy.

She ran and ran, keeping up with her pace without stopping to rest. Her breathing was getting heavier with each passing second, and her heart beating faster as well. For a moment, she thought it was ok to slow down a bit. There was a pretty good distance in between the two of them

*Clack*

*Clack*

*Clack*

She quickly turned to see the gunslinger at a distance. Quickly catching up while making loud noises as her feet hit the gravel, kicking up a few pebbles here and there.

"Oh shi…"

She couldn't finish because she used any hidden strength she had to bring back the distance they first had. She ran like crazy, ignoring any throbbing that started to occur in her legs as they started to flush. She ran and ran until she finally noticed the spot that she needed to take her to.

She looked around for a moment to see if there were any signs of Luci or Allie being nearby. But so far, nothing.

She gasped for breath, falling to her knees to recover from the strain. But…

*Click*

She gasped as she felt Pikachi staring right behind her.

"Man, that's the best you could do? You really need to start working out more…"

This was it. If Luci had a plan for this, now would probably be the best time to carry it out.

"You know, I wouldn't be surprised if that stuck up pain-in-the-butt boy and your cowardly little friend were somewhere just watching us."

"Wh…what do you mean?"

"I mean that the plan is to let you get injured, maybe killed, just to make me run out of ammo or some crap like that." She nudged her pistol. "You're a scapegoat, moron…"

Ami shook her head. There wasn't anyway Luci and Allie would do that…right?

"Well let's see…where should I start?"

Ami could hear Pikachi pointing at different part of her body. She wanted to yell, but she wasn't sure if they could hear her, or if they'd react. Was this really part of the plan?

Pikachi lifted her leg and kicked, leaving a sharp pain into Ami's leg. She cringed, but she didn't move. What was taking them so long?

Next was the butt, then it was the stomach, then the face. The pain was starting to resound throughout her body, and she could taste some of the metallic flavor of blood from her mouth. Was she really left to die?

Finally, the gunslinger let out a sigh which sounded like a mix of disappointment and satisfaction.

"Alright, I think I've got my target." She raised her pistol again. "Let's start with the arms. I'd like bit more running after all…"

There was a click. Ami gripped tightly as she waited for a sudden rush of pain.

*Twang*

There was a faint sound of a bowstring resounding somewhere. Ami looked up, and could see that Pikachi could hear the same thing. She turned to the source of the sound, and saw something rushing towards them from the sky. The object zoomed through and passed just above her arm, leaving a small cut on it.

The gunslinger girl pointed her pistol in the same direction as where the object originated, but Luciano was already running towards them with another arrow set. He released the arrow, sending it straight towards Pikachi in a straight line.

Ami saw Pikachi smile as she suddenly moved backwards, like she was about to do a handstand, making the arrow miss narrowly above her and continuing its path unhindered in anyway. She was about to straighten her posture, when Luciano suddenly shouted.

"Now! Do it, Musician!"

Suddenly, Allie popped up from under a pile of rubble, dusty and somewhat messy (she probably didn't like it) and with her clarinet at hand.

Allie suddenly blew hard into the clarinet, creating a large *PHOO* sounds the resounded in the area.

Ami covered her ears as she turned to look at Pikachi, who was shouting as she tried to cover her ears the best she could. That sense of hearing that the gunner seemed to be so proud of, ended up being a fatal weakness now. Allie's large burst of sound was paralyzing Pikachi, who must have heard things several times louder than they did, and it was the perfect opportunity for Luciano to attack.

Pikachi must have thought the same thing, because she sacrificed an arm to aim at her with an angry look. But Ami was ready this time. Using the little strength she gathered, she pushed away further from the gunner. It wasn't a long distance, but it was enough. Luciano had released a small volley of arrows at Pikachi, all as straight as the last one he shot.

The gunner tried to move, but the sound seemed too painful to her, so she ended up moving at a slower pace. Most of the arrows still missed, but a few managed to get her side and a leg. Pikachi suddenly looked more frustrated as she groaned in pain.

They now had the advantage.

Ami was surprised that they managed to get the gunner with just the three of them. But more than that, she was glad that they didn't abandon her. Yeah, she was glad that she was able to make good friends now, and she wanted to treasure them forever.

However, Pikachi's face changed, and not in the good way. She was smiling like crazy, but not like the usual crazy. She was smiling and chuckling to herself in a very twisted way, a way that was so twisted, the others felt nothing more than childish smiles. This was a true evil smile that made her blood turn cold.

"Ha ha…ha ha ha…ha ha ha ha ha ha…..HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

That bloodcurdling laugh felt terrible.

"SO ALL YOU FUCKIN LOSERS FINALLY DROVE ME THIS FAR! HOW IMPRESSIVE!" Only one thought went through Ami's mind

She finally lost it.

"HEY! MONOKUMA! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME DAMMIT!" the gunslinger was shouting at the top of her lungs at the open sky. "I'M GONNA USE IT! ALRIGHT?! I'M GONNA USE 'THAT' AND BRING ABOUT THE WORLD OF DESPAIR THAT YOU PROMISED!"

"That"? What exactly was "That"?

Pikachi made a familiar sentai-like pose, then raising her arm, she shouted once more.

"LET'S GO DAMMIT! MONOKUMITE COME FORTH AND GIVE ME THE POWER!"

In reaction to the shouting, something suddenly came falling from the sky. Ami looked up, and saw something large and black suddenly heading in this direction like a meteorite. She struggled to get away, but Pikachi just continued to laugh like crazy without moving an inch. The object was coming closer and closer, until it finally landed on Pikachi, whipping up a large dust storm upon contact.

Nobody could see anything for a while. Then, when it started to clear up, the linguist peeked to see the gunslinger, and was shocked by what she saw.

The gunslinger's arms were covered in what looked like a thick black armor, thick enough to deflect most attacks, but thin enough to easily move around in. Each arm piece had several blue lines running across it, giving the appearance resembling a hieroglyph or a pattern in an ancient ruin, and she was still chuckling insanely as she gave a very twisted look at the three of them.

"I already knew that you got new toys, so I thought that I'd show you some of my own!"

That "armor" that the girl was wearing. Ami stared for a while before looking back to her wristband and pen.

They were both made from the same material.

* * *

_**So, curious? Well it's not like you'll find out more until...well who knows?**_

_**As always, comments reviews, and all that which I'm pretty sure I don't need to remind you all about that you're getting annoyed by.**_


	10. Chapter 1 - The shots are rung!

_**Yo, its been a while. Over a week, I think, since I last made an update.**_

_**Well just to give some closure on this battle, I decided to end it now. I'm not trying to disrespect your character, but I'm very sorry if it seems that way. But I am really trying to get things to work.**_

_**Anyways, hope you guys had a good Thanksgiving, and enjoy...**_

* * *

Why?

That thing attached to Pikachi was made of the same materials as their tools.

It was supposed to be their way of fighting against the enemy. Something that was encased in a box until they came along and opened it.

So why did the Gunslinger, a soldier of despair, have it?

And even worse, it looked like hers was more advanced than theirs.

Alyson was stuck in shock, blanking out as the whole thing was a bit too much for her to handle at once.

She woke up after feeling something push her into the ground from her side. She focused her eyes to see Ami lying on top of her, covered in dust. Behind her, pointing at the spot that Alyson was sitting at only moments ago (now a small crater) was Pikachi. Giggling maliciously, like a clown. However the look in her eyes was anything but kind.

The gunslinger's eyes were twitching slightly, while her pupils were shifting all around, almost like the eyes of a machine searching out for a target. Yet contrary to her eyes, the rest of her body was calm and steady, almost as if it was possessed.

But there wasn't any time to look any further. Ami immediately came to, and dragged Alyson over towards a small alley in-between two abandoned buildings. There, she started to search around for something, and gave a small "ah" as it seemed like she found it.

She moved some of the debris to reveal a small hole into one of the buildings, just large enough for a person to crawl through. Alyson was momentarily reluctant about crawling on the ground. But right now there was no time to argue. She got on her knees and went through the hole with Ami following after. They went further in before Ami stopped her and had them sit down to talk.

"Geez, now what are we supposed to do?" the Linguist asked herself. "If we could pull of another soundblast, we might be able to win. But she seems even trickier to fight now…"

Alyson was listening, but she didn't care.

What was the point? They were fighting a pointless battle. There wasn't anything they could do to against Pikachi, and there were 4 more people who might be just as bad, if not worse. They were all just toying with them…with HER….just like…just…like…

"Hey! Allie! Can you hear me?"

Ami was snapping her fingers to try and get the musician's attention. Alyson turned her head towards her. Maybe she looked empty, because Ami looked a bit shocked before speaking.

"I need you to listen. When I say 'now', I want you to blow as hard as you can into that Clarinet of yours. It doesn't have to be good, just loud."

"…Why…"

"Um…I kinda have a plan, but I can't really use an instrument, and I don't have the time to learn. So I'm gonna need you to…"

"Why bother? What's the point of trying to win? We're all dead! We don't have any chance of winning!"

"Hey, come on…"

"No, dammit! Listen! You saw that crazy woman get equipped with the same kind of stuff we have! How do you know that they won't just turn on us? How do you know it can't be controlled by Monokuma or any of those freaks! What if you're all just working together and leaving me out of it!"

Alyson started clenching her head while slightly rocking forward and backward.

This is all a dream.

She'll wake up and see that nothing was wrong.

Any moment now.

These kinds of thoughts continued to circulate throughout her mind over and over. She mumbled to herself, blanking out anything else. This was just too much for her. She couldn't take this any longer. She just wants to have everything return to the way they were before all this happened.

Just then, a sharp jolt zapped through her cheeks, bringing her back to reality. She saw Ami shaking her hands with a look of slight pain on her face.

"Ah…I don't think I'm going to try that again anytime soon…" She grabbed Alyson's hands.

They felt nice. Granted, there was some gravel and dirt on them from crawling earlier, but they still felt warm and secure. Making her thoughts calm down

"Look Allie," Ami was making a more serious face as she spoke. "I can't prove to you that nobody will betray you, and I don't understand these black things any better than you do. But I promise that no matter what, I'll stick by your side. I won't betray you in any way, and I'll try to make sure you get through all of this alive. But right now, I need you to trust me, alright?"

Alyson paused for a moment. Like Ami said, there wasn't any prove that they were all trustworthy. But if she was going to die, she'd rather die while putting up a fight.

"Alright…"

* * *

"Geez, where the hell did they all go?"

Pikachi was slowly walking through the streets without a care in the world. The initial connection to the Monokumite was a bit rickety as the body and material were trying to get used to each other, but it seems like everything's is more or less fine now.

To be honest, Monokumite was still pretty new to her, since she never really needed it before now. She remembered hearing that it was a pretty malleable and unusual element that was discovered a while ago, and something about there being "endless possibilities" with its uses, or something.

The big thing though, was that Monokumite was somehow able to adapt to the user to utilize their talents in creative and unique ways. In her case, the Monokumite had sort-of fused with her arm to form a blaster-like equipment like the one that you'd see in sci-fi movies or video games. As for ammo, it would utilize pretty much anything around, even the air itself, to create something to fire. And since it also came with a special machine that would automatically aim, it was almost perfect for the one known as the "gunslinger".

A never ending supply of ammo with a gun that gives near perfect aim.

But she was still a bit shocked. The fact that all those kids had Monokumite as well. Perhaps they were traitors to the cause? Or maybe the group of hope had managed to steal some of Monokuma's technology? Well whatever the reason, it didn't matter anymore.

She had the opportunity to kill them now, so all that matters is finding them and having a little fun before sending them off to the afterlife.

"…..istin…How…."

There were faint voices coming over in the direction of a small alleyway. She smiled as she slowly crept closer, making sure not to make a sound as she started to overhear their conversation.

"I can't prove to you that nobody will betray you, and I don't understand these black things any better than you do. But I promise that no matter what, I'll stick by your side. I won't betray you in any way, and I'll try to make sure you get through all of this alive. But right now, I need you to trust me, alright?"

Trust? The gunslinger almost laughed as she overheard them. Trust doesn't really exist in this world. It was empty talk used to get people to do whatever you wanted. It's nothing more than an illusion.

She had enough.

She took her arm and aimed at the wall in front of her.

The compressed air bullet that formed suddenly shot out had enough force to break though the brick wall.

As the resulting smoke began to clear, two shadowy figures were in view. She brought her arm back up to aim at the figures, but when the area began to clear up, she saw that it was just pieces of debris. She shifted her line of sight to the area around her, but there was nobody in sight.

It must have been an echo from further inside. Her mistake for assuming that they were close.

Just then, something suddenly ran from behind one piece of debris to another. She aimed and fired, but more smoke came out and obscured her sight. The old building pieces were already crumbling, so she would need to aim more carefully to prevent them from taking advantage of a sneak attack.

The figure continued to dash here and there, but Pikachi was careful to just keep watch for now. She was starting to see a pattern in the way it was moving, and soon she'll be able to find the timing.

But she already knew what they were planning.

She shifted her eyes away from the figure, which she guessed as being Ami, and fired at the area around where she stood. Dust clouds formed everywhere, but she heard the sound of movement different from the first, nearby. Taking careful aim, she pointed at the south east and fired, just narrowly missing the musician of the group whose legs were shaking from the intentional missed shot she made earlier.

"Next time I won't miss…"

The gunslinger figured that the plan was something like the linguist catching her attention while the musician would let out another burst of sound to paralyze her. However this plan was WAY too simple to figure out and taking away the element of surprise would make this battle hers.

*Twang*

Oh right, there was one more…

She blocked the flying arrow with her armor, only to find another flying towards her. She kept swinging, knocking away the arrows that were heading towards her without even putting in much effort. Getting annoyed, she fired a compressed bullet into the direction where the arrows came from, to see Luciano rolling over to dodge the attack. Stepping on Alyson, she aimed at Luciano which shifting her bullet setting from "air" to "light".

It was a nice time to test out her new laser setting. Maybe start with the legs, then the arms, then the eyes…

Luciano launched another arrow at her, and she lazily knocked it away once again. However…

*Crack*

The feeling on her arm suddenly felt lighter. She turned to see her blaster break, leaving her arms open and vulnerable. She reached for another pistol, but then the linguist suddenly grabbed her arms, and held them tightly. She started to struggle, but she heard another arrow fly. There was a small shove in her chest, close to the heart, making blood ooze out from the wound.

"Dammit…dammit…dammit dammit dammit!"

She yelled out in anger before everything finally started to go dark…

* * *

_**Well, I've got to start studying for finals in for the next couple of weeks, but I'll probably end Chapter 1 sometime around a week or so. Please look forward to it...**_


	11. Interlude - The Gunslinger's tale

"Enough! There's no need to go overboard here!"

Why was it so wrong? Humans have shot down things for many years now. Birds, Deer, Bear, other humans, it was all the same.

Just pull the trigger and shoot.

Let the bullet loaded in do the rest.

They said that you can see your life flash before your eyes, right when you have an encounter with death.

Would you be able to see what you did wrong?

Would you see it all before the bullet hits?

Wouldn't it be a kindness?

No, nobody there seemed to think so. They were all hypocrites who said that there was a difference in the way they shot, and the way that she shot.

That's why she had to show them the truth, that why she shot them.

Of course, they didn't die. She was careful to make sure that they didn't die. But she was making it close to make sure that their life would flash before their eyes.

To see their mistakes.

But they all looked at her with disdain, like they were seeing a monster.

And maybe that's what she was.

A monster.

* * *

Her own parents looked at her the same way when they got the call.

They never really seemed to have liked her in the first place, but the call seemed to have really changed things for them.

She heard them whisper to themselves.

She heard the things they said.

"She's a monster!"

"A demon spawn!"

"We can't let her stay!"

"But she might just kill us then!"

She shook her head.

She didn't want them to die.

She loved them, after all, they gave birth to her.

That's why she wanted them to learn from their past.

To really understand her.

They told her she could go ahead.

They said nothing when she told them her plans for the day.

They didn't stop her.

But they didn't see her off.

They always averted their gaze recently.

But that's fine, she didn't really care.

* * *

She loved the feeling of the recoil that occurred every time she pulled the trigger.

She loved the sounds that came out when she pulled that trigger.

She loved the sight of red that came out when she shot a living thing.

The sight of something being pushed back when she fired

Almost like it was magic, or a psychic ability.

But apparently nobody else thought so.

There were screams

There were cries

Then there were more shots.

But they didn't come from her

They came from the police.

Such hypocrites

Nobody seemed to care when they fired their guns

But they all seemed to hate seeing her fire her own guns.

Luckily, they were all too slow, they were all too poor at shooting.

So she was able to escape from their shots.

She wouldn't let herself get caught so easily.

But she felt something contort inside her.

What was that feeling?

"That's a feeling of despair"

She turned

A monochrome bear was standing behind her.

Was it an animal?

Was it a doll?

She didn't care. She aimed her gun at it anyways.

"Police are supposed to be one of the figureheads of 'hope', and yet they go ahead and point their gun back at you. Isn't that mean?"

She blinked. What was it trying to say?

"I've known corrupt policemen who have even shot other people under the pretense of 'for justice', when they only wanted to experience the same things that you probably felt."

The things this bear said interested her. She slowly lowered her gun.

"And yet, they all have the galls to try and arrest you for doing the same thing? What bullshit! They're only doing this to keep the idea of 'hope' alive! But I'm not like them…"

The bear seemed to be laughing.

"Upupupupu…I'm going to show everyone the truth by bestowing them all a world of despair, and I want your help in doing so!"

A world of despair? What kind of world would that be like?

Would that be a world where people would see what she saw?

Where people would know the things she knew?

"If I help you, will this world of despair be one where people understand each other?"

"Upupupupu…probably…."

She paused, then there was a wide grin.

Yes, this was something she needed to do.

A world of despair was something that she needed to bring.

This way, people would see what she saw. Fell what she felt. Be more honest with themselves, see the truth.

Then maybe…she wouldn't be hated as much…


	12. Chapter 1 - Rank up!

_**As promised, the last part for "Chapter 1". Hope you guys enjoy...**_

* * *

Opening her eyes, the light temporarily blinded her as the darkness lifted.

The shock in the wound made her groan as she tried to look around as best as she could.

Those three brats were all sitting nearby, cleaning themselves up as best as they could with stuff from their bags. She sighed to herself as they noticed her awake.

"So you're finally up…" Luciano spoke first.

She nodded.

"You know why we kept you alive?"

"Please, doesn't take a genius to know when you're about to be raped violently. Kidding, of course." She smirked while adding the last bit after seeing the look of disgust on their faces. "You want me to spill the beans about Monokuma, don't you?"

"And whatever you know about these…" Ami referred to her object, which was shaped like a pen. The material itself seemed to be made from the same things her weapon was made with. But…

"I don't know anything..."

"Don't play dumb with us…"

"I seriously don't. All I know is that mine is something that uses a special little thing called Monokumite. Lame, I know." She gave a small chuckle. "But this stuff is seriously amazing. You get a hold of enough of it, and you can pull off some pretty miraculous things."

"Liar…" Luciano spat out as he sneered at her. "I know a lot of things, lots of secrets, and I've never even heard of Monokumite before…"

"My, what a little pervert we have here…" She giggled again. It was fun to piss off this little boy. "Well it's been a pretty recent discovery, and it's not like the public knows about it. After all, you can see just how dangerous it would be for everyone to know about this, wouldn't you?"

It's just like any tool. The concept of "good" and "bad" is only accurate for what kinds of things the people use it for. Gangs, police, bullies, just about anyone who uses it could cause mass destruction, intentional or not.

"Of course, that's not the only reason this seems new to you all…"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing…" She said too much already.

She may have lost, but she already forfeited her life when this all started. Whether she died now or later didn't matter, so she had no obligation to tell them anything else.

They must have realized this and decided that they wouldn't press on.

"Let's try something else," Luciano pressed his temples for a bit. "Why are you joining Monokuma?"

"Because it's fun." She slowly leaned against some rubble and crossed her legs.

"Don't give us that shit!" Alyson was finally speaking. "You think it's funny?! Killing off millions of lives and seeing this all as some sort of game?!"

"Uh, didn't you hear Monokuma the first time? This pretty much IS a game…"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Pikachi was rather surprised that the little coward from earlier could even scream that loud. "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING YOU FREAK! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE A FAMILY WAITING FOR YOU! TO LOSE ALMOST EVERYTHING YOU HAD IN A SHORT TIME! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND LOVE! YOU…YOU…YOU'RE JUST A MONSTER WHO ENJOYS SENSELESS MURDER!"

The room was silent. Nobody moved for a few minutes. Then…

"Yeah, I don't understand." Pikachi sighed. "I don't because nobody, not even my own damn parents, gave a shit about a 'monster' like me."

"What?"

"Tell me. What exactly makes me so different from those two next to you?"

"Huh?"

"You just met them all a while ago, right? You don't know anything about either of them, so how are they any better than me? Just because you all ended up waking in the same place?"

"That's…"

"Maybe somebody is actually infiltrating your group. Waiting for the right time to pick you each one by one, until he or she is the only one left. You think I'm a monster just because I like shooting things? Then wouldn't that make Luciano there just as bad?"

"…"

"Just because they're different, people shun others out of fear. I just do things a bit differently at a shooting range, and the whole world suddenly freaks out. Nobody cared, not even my own damn parents."

She gave one more sigh. There's no point in talking about her past anymore.

"How about I show you something interesting? Just hold out those things in front of my Monokumite fragments." They all shifted their gazes awkwardly. "No point in hiding it. I know that there's more than the fragments there…"

The entire time, she couldn't feel her arm, nor could she sense it move. At first, she thought it was just paralyzed, but she figured that after this much time, there was only reason why.

That last attacked shattered her arm. Since the Monokumite was infusing itself in her arm, she lost it when the stuff broke apart.

Now all that's left is a limp useless bit of flesh.

"Don't worry, not like nothing bad will happen…probably…"

Hesitant, she watched as they slowly followed her orders, then gasped as the pieces suddenly melted into their tools.

It was kinda like watching two different liquids mixed in together. The pieces of flesh stuck onto her fragments literally removed themselves as the process occurred, and fell to the floor, like they came straight from the gunslinger herself. The fragments mixed into their tools without changing their shape, but instead made them slightly bigger and added another line or two to each of them.

"What does this…"

Before Luciano could continue, he froze in shock.

The others did as well.

Well it wasn't that surprising.

Most people would freeze after seeing someone point a pistol to their own heads.

"Put that down…"

Pikachi smiled.

"Stop. W-We can talk about this, alright?"

She shook her head.

"I'll be honest, I'm so damn sick of you guys that I wanna puke." She gave another twisted smile. "Saving people you were fighting moments ago? You're all stupider than I thought! A game doesn't continue until the boss is D-E-A-D dammit!"

"But you don't need to…"

"Awww…feeling pity to a 'monster' like me? How kind-hearted…" Pikachi gave a toothy smile. "But sadly, I don't give a crap about what you guys want."

Lightly pulling the trigger tighter just ever so slightly, she decided to say one last thing.

"Go and see just how far your stupidity takes you. I'LL SEE YOU ALL IN HELL!"

She finally pulled with all her strength, and momentarily felt something drill into her brain before plunging herself into darkness.

* * *

Nobody moved.

They all just watched with horror as the gunslinger pulled the trigger towards herself

*BANG*

A single shot was fired. But at a short distance directly towards the brain, there was no way that she could survived.

Luciano coldly went over to the body and pressed his fingers on her neck to check for a pulse. It was unlikely, but they had to be sure.

He shook his head.

"She's dead…" he punched the ground directly below him without hesitation. "Dammit!"

Was he angry that they lost their source of information? Or was it because he was angry at her for killing herself? Either way, Ami dared not ask.

She looked once more at the face that was stuck in a disturbing smile. Originally, the Linguist was afraid of the gunslinger for acting so twisted. But now, there was only pity. Maybe she was wrong, but she acted the way she did because nobody would accept her. Ami shuddered at the thought of being secluded from her parents. Anyone who never experienced a parent's love probably would have acted like that. Especially if they were already separated by society.

"Well well well, looks like we've got our first victory here!"

Turning her head, Ami saw a giant screen suddenly appear several feet away. Monokuma was being broadcasted in what appeared to have been a dark room. Its posture was smug as it crossed its legs while twirling a glass cup filled with a red liquid that looked like wine.

_"This is all because of Monokuma…" _She thought to herself.

"My, I NEVER expected you sissies to actually WIN this battle! I suppose I should really give you all a bit more respect…" It tossed the glass away and began scribbling on a notepad. After while it held the notepad to show some poorly written words.

**CONGRATS! THE STUPID MORONS HAVE UPGRADED THEIR RANK FROM "D-BAGS" TO "CRAP"!**

"What kind of ranking system is that?!"

"Incidentally, MY rank is 'The Superior and Cutest Mascot Character of all Time'!"

"You suck!"

"Shut it 'Crap' people! You all need to work harder to raise your ranks yourselves!" Monokuma shook an angry paw on the screen, but then took a deep sigh.

"Still, I'm quite disappointed in you all. Letting poor Pikachi die like that? I thought you were supposed to be the representatives for hope…"

"Shut up!" Allie shouted. "It's your fault for making Pikachi die like this! You're the one who tricked her!"

"Mwa? How amusing!" the monochrome bear suddenly started laughing.

"Upupupupupu. Let me tell you guys something, I never forced her into anything, nor did I trick her. I simply invited her to join me in bringing despair to the world, and she freely accepted on her own terms! Whatever crap she decided to go through after that, she decided on her own!"

"You…"

"Enough of this! I need to give you all rewards…"

Luciano gave a smirk. "Your subordinate is dead, and you decide to give us a reward? That's a strange way to do things…"

"Hey, I'm not exactly pleased with this outcome either, but isn't it common for every boss fight to end with a reward to the challengers?" It clapped its paws three times before something suddenly fell from the sky.

It was a medium-sized package with Monokuma's face on it. Inside were seven Monokuma masks and a fair amount of canned food and drinks that nearly filled the box, enough to last a group of seven for several weeks. Piled on top of the food and drinks, were two plain-looking chips, one with Monokuma's face, and the other with the word "Hope" written on it.

"That's your reward for beating one of my soldiers. And of course, you get similar stuff once you beat the others." Monokuma gave a sigh. "Man, I'm just really generous here. Giving you guys all this stuff. I can't believe what an incredibly kind bear I am!"

"Wait, what are we supposed to do about these chips?"

"Huh?" it suddenly started shouting. "DON'T YOU ASK ME ABOUT THAT! I'M NOT YOUR MAMA Y'KNOW! YOU KIDS ARE OLD ENOUGH TO WIPE YOUR OWN DAMN BOTTOMS, SO YOU ARE OLD ENOUGH TO DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK!" It made a spitting-like movement. "Ptoo! I'm all pissed off now, so I'm gonna go leave. Well then, until next time…"

As the screen suddenly sunk into the ground, Ami tried to reach out, but to no success. Everyone stared silently at the package that was delivered to them. It was essential for sure, but she felt guilty at the knowledge that it was received at the cost of a life, even from someone who was trying to take their lives earlier.

"There's no point brooding over this any longer," Luciano said with "matter-of-fact" tone. "Let's take this stuff and meet up with the others. We can discuss about all this together and see where to go from there."

Luciano and Alyson were gathering their things, but Ami knew that there was one thing she had to do first.

She walked over to Pikachi's dead body and looked at the face which seemed to stare endlessly at the open sky. She slowly brought her hand to the gunslinger's eyes, and closed them before making a small clap along with a prayer.

_"Rest in peace…"_

She turned around a left to help the other two with their preparations.

Monokuma would pay for this, she swore it.

* * *

"Upupupupupu…Seems like things are progressing quite nicely!"

Monokuma sat in a dark room while chuckling to itself. Lights kept flashing as a figure was working at something in the space behind the small bear.

"You sure about that?" the figure asked without turning their head from their work. "I mean you just lost a soldier to those kids of hope, and now things are starting to go uphill in your battle for a world of despair."

"Meh. Shion knew the consequences when she decided to follow me in creating a world of despair. Her death doesn't change anything about my plans."

"I see…"

"Enough, how's it look over there?"

"I'm about halfway done. This is pretty complicated stuff I'm working on, and unless you want to risk ending up as an easy target, I suggest you wait longer."

"Grrrr…you better not be slacking…"

"I'm not. I'm being completely serious here…"

"Fine. I'll wait longer. But remember, if you're trying to trick me…"

"I know, I know."

Monokuma pressed a button, and the screen in front changed to show the remaining four despair members.

"Hey! Listen up! Pikachi just bit the dust, so now you guys decide just who exactly should go next."

A familiar figure held up her hand which held strange-looking wristband.

"I'll go next."

"Fine, I expect good things Miko Kotorwari…"

A door opened in the room that the four figures were in, and the demolitionist left walking outside.

The next round was finally set…

**CHAPTER 1 - END**

* * *

_**So what did you guys think?**_

_**I kinda thought it was ok, but I'll leave it to you all to decide whether it was satisfactory or not.**_

_**Anyways, now I'm gonna need to start studying for my finals. But to be honest, I'm probably gonna spend at least half the time playing on Persona Q or something.**_

_**But regardless, I'll try to start working a bit more on this around winter break or so.**_

_**Of course, I might decide to just end it with a bad end later on...**_


	13. Chapter 2 - Despair, Despair, Everywhere

**_Yo, hope you guys had a good Christmas and a good new years._**

**_Anyways, here's the next chapter for Hero's Conquest. Hope you like it._**

* * *

Silence

That was all that filled the air between the two most intimidating-looking members of the group.

Agustin and Kujou walked wordlessly through the fields. Agustin gave a small glance at his partner before sighing inwardly at himself.

It was going to be a long trip…

* * *

Earlier, after the explosion separated them, Agustin found himself on the ground covered in dust. To be honest, he was disturbed that he managed to get away without a single scratch.

It's not that he's complaining about it. But it seemed pretty weird that he managed to escape without any aftermath. Even a trained hunter like him would've suffered a couple broken bones **at least **from a freefall like that. But he checked himself, and there wasn't anything wrong. Everything was fine (well, aside from the dust, of course).

Just then, there was the sound of movement nearby. Agustin gripped his weapon tightly and summoned a knife like earlier. After hearing about how it worked, he decided to keep it in easy reach from now on for cases like this. He held his breath, waiting for some sign or signal to begin attacking. However, he just noticed a small sight of a fluttering cape, and slowly relaxed his guard.

"You can come out Kujou. I know that's you…"

The SHSL Warrior revealed himself and wordlessly moved closer to the Hunter while keeping a wary eye.

Well, this would be natural. He didn't really trust Kujou completely either. After all they only met about…a day? Geez, keeping track of the time is difficult in this situation.

After giving a moment to check for any sudden attack, they sat down wordlessly for a long time.

If he were to be more honest, Agustin would've preferred an attack to suddenly happen right now, instead of having an awkward moment pass by peacefully. It wasn't like he hated him, but this was the quiet one. The one who spoke the least in the entire meeting and the battle combined. That made it difficult for him to understand the man's personality.

But whether they wanted to or not, they had to work together, at least until they could find the others and a way out of this mess.

* * *

And so it led to the situation they were in right now. Somehow, they both managed to agree to continue walking around to try and meet up with the others. But the tension felt thick and heavy, and it was making things a lot more uncomfortable with each passing step.

"Er…is there something bothering you?"

"…"

"Any ideas about what this Monokuma is thinking?"

"…"

"Do you even want to talk?"

"…"

Agustin was used to being alone most of the time, so talking to someone else was already a bit of a challenge in itself. He wasn't hated or anything, but he chose to keep to himself since it's more efficient to hunt that way. But the feeling he had was about to drive him mad if nothing changed, so he decided to try and improve the situation a bit.

However, Kujou didn't seem like he heard him, and was only keeping his eyes straight ahead as he they walked. Agustin scratched his head awkwardly. He gave up trying to communicate at this point.

They arrived in an area where Agustin felt the presence of living beings moving around. His experience in the field made him pretty sensitive to this kind of stuff, which was ironically perfect for the situation they were in now.

Of course, it didn't mean that he was able to tell whether it was a friend or foe purely from that feeling alone. At most it was just a signal that something, or some things, is there. Kinda like suddenly seeing ripples in a pond. You know something went in, but unless you saw it for yourself, you couldn't tell without getting a close look.

Arming themselves with their tools, Kujou and Agustin cautiously moved closer with Agustin taking the lead. The two of them snuck quietly through the path until the target was right around the corner. There was a splashing sound, which meant that whoever, or whatever, it was apparently using water (presumably) for something, so it was probably distracted.

Holding up his fingers to countdown, Agustin signaled Kujou the timing to rush in.

3…2…1…

They swiftly moved in simultaneously to find…

"AH!"

…a young child.

* * *

"Here, you need to pass through this hole in order to get into the shelter…"

After convincing the young boy that they didn't plan on hurting him, he agreed to lead them to a hidden place where more people were hiding.

The boy's appearance was a pale yet fairly sturdy body, wearing dirty casual clothing that looked like they haven't been changed for a long time. The boy was also wearing gloves that were mismatched (the one on the left looked like gardening gloves while the one on the right looked like winter gloves) and was carrying a bucket that was being used to carry the water he was gathering.

Agustin offered to carry the bucket, but surprisingly Kujou was the one who ended up taking it off the boy's hands. Instead, the Agustin was left to make sure that the path was safe to travel across as the boy led them to their destination.

After moving for what felt like maybe an hour or so, they reached a place that seemed to resemble a sort of civilization.

Small huts and makeshift buildings were built to house groups ranging from two to five people. The ones who seemed to be by themselves only had newspapers or worn out coats to keep themselves warm. Holes were dug through in the walls with various things placed inside, which meant that some people were also trying to live in cave-like structures. The area felt damp and the smell of rust was a bit strong here and there, and there was quite a chill near the ground. The people all wore various types of clothing that looked worn and/or dirty, matching the filth and grime that stuck on their bodies. But the thing that seemed the most troubling was the look of emptiness on several faces, as if all life were suddenly taken away, leaving nothing but an empty shell of what once could have been called human.

Agustin couldn't help but stare at the sight around him. None of this looked natural to him. Last he remembered, the world was well-off enough that there wouldn't have been anything like this unless something REALLY terrible, like maybe an atomic bomb, had went off nearby (Though considering the scenery he saw at the outside, he wouldn't have been surprised if one did go off somewhere).

Him, Kujou, and their guide finally arrived at one of the huts, where the boy welcomed them inside while taking the bucket and trying to rush further in. The two of them ended up sitting in what looked like an attempt at a living room, and glanced around.

The room was filled with a wide assortment of small objects, like gears of various shapes and sizes, rubber tubes, glass fragments, some line that was gathered and wrapped up, and other kinds of random everyday objects. There was no T.V. around, so it seemed that electricity was out of the question, and considering that their guide had to travel to fetch water, they shouldn't trust sanitation either.

"Oh? It seems that little Riki had brought us some guests…"

An elderly man suddenly appeared from the doorway leading further in.

The man was wearing the same kind of raggedy clothing that everyone else in the area wore. But the sleeve that was supposed to cover his left arm had been torn off, exposing his arm along with the small amount of bandages that were wrapped along the upper arm. The other sleeve was fine, but there was nothing underneath, leaving it to flutter along gently as the old man moved around. His skin was slightly tan, and he had a short beard forming around his face, but despite his elderly appearance, he looked rather active.

The old man sat down using a nearby pillow.

"Welcome. This is a small refuge camp that we have built. My name is Bodwin. It is very nice to meet you…"

The two of them gave a slight bow in respect.

"My name is Agustin. And this here is Kujou." The hunter introduced casually. "We're actually looking around for some answers. You mind helping us out?"

"Well, we will do our best, but I'm not sure how well a group like us can help such young and active people like yourselves." Bodwin was stroking his beard gently as he answered.

"Well for starters, we need some answers. Exactly what the hell just happened here? Why does it look like we just went through another damned holocaust or a giant warzone?"

Bodwin began to pour some tea.

"Please sit down and have a drink."

Kujou took the cup and held it underneath his nose. He gave a couple of sniffs and stared at the contents. Agustin could see the hint of disdain from his face, and considering what they saw on the way here, he didn't blame him. The water's purity was rather questionable, but he felt that it would be rude to refuse the old man's offer.

He gave a small sip, and nearly gagged. The tea-part was there, he could tell, but there was also a strong taste of rust and he could've sworn that something else might have been in that water, something that he'd rather not say.

He swallowed the contents in his mouth, and managed to keep himself from making any faces or making a sound. He shifted his eyes to Kujou, who seemed unfazed by the contents. Either that, or he was hiding it well…

"As you can see, our living conditions aren't exactly ideal." The old man spoke with a slight bow in apology. "It feels like it's been about a year since we he had any fresh water or good food to eat. Ever since we were forced out of our homes…"

"You mean…"

"Yes. Those buildings you saw outside used to be homes and workspaces for us all. And not just for the people you saw on the way here. There are many different settlements in many different locations throughout the world. This is actually just one of the many hundreds, possibly thousands, of groups who were forced into hiding…"

"Alright, but you still haven't told me exactly what caused all this…"

"My my, young people nowadays are so impatient…" The old man's was acting like he was frustrated. "But very well. I suppose you really should know the details." He gave a huge sigh as he continued. "The truth is that were forced out of our homes by 5 different students, just like you. They were supposedly called the 'Denizens of Despair'…"

Agustin held his breath. That group that worked with Monokuma came up again. He remembered all too well the danger of encountering just one of them, but that all five of them could wipe out an entire city?

"Sorry, but I find it pretty hard to believe that just 5 students were able to take down an entire city by themselves. I mean that would mean that they had a lot of firepower in their hands…"

"And?"

"Well, wouldn't that mean that the military or something would have made some kind of announcement about that?"

"Why?"

"Well, something like that would probably take some kind of giant bomb or missile, right?"

"Actually, they didn't use bombs or missiles or anything like that. They used something far worse…"

"Worse?"

"Yes. I only caught a glimpse of it, but they were using some peculiar kind of object that we've never really seen before…"

The Hunter was starting to get a bad feeling.

"Er…what kind of objects?"

"Well, it looked like it was pitch-black with strange light moving through it, and it looked metallic, almost like something from those science-fiction movies..."

"Something like this?" he held up his tool to show Bodwin who glanced at it.

"Yes, something like that…WHAAAAAAAAAA?!"

The old man's scream was so loud Agustin flinched.

"How did…what is…you….YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!"

"N-No…We aren't…"

"KALIN! TAKE JEM AND RUN AWAY! YOU MUST WARN THE OTHERS!"

"Wait, this is a misunderstanding. You see…"

"YOU FIENDS! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOOD KIDS, BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT YOU WERE IN LEAGUE WITH THE OTHERS, AREN'T YOU!"

"If you'd just listen…"

"I WON'T LET YOU BRING HARM TO THESE KIDS NOR ANYONE ELSE IN THIS VILLAGE! YOU'LL HAVE TO GET THROUGH ME IF YOU WANT THEM!"

The misunderstanding continued for a while.

* * *

"I'm sorry that you kids had to see me act in such a way…"

The matter was eventually cleared up, and Agustin sighed in relief. Kujou was just sitting there, acting like nothing happened. How nice it must be to act ignorant so casually…

"But I must admit, that tool of yours looks remarkably familiar to the weapons that those other kids were using to destroy our homes."

"I'm guessing you don't know anything about it?" Since he never used a specific name, it was most likely that Bodwin never really knew what these things were called in the first place.

"Sorry. No clue." The old man shrugged. "All I know is that they are very dangerous when in the wrong hands. I'd recommend keeping them hidden from the others, in case there might be another misunderstanding like the one earlier."

"Good idea…" Changing it back into its more dormant form, Agustin hid his tool away inside his belt.

"Now then, as I was saying, these things are quite dangerous. Just five of those managed to destroy an entire city and then some. But there were also people who seemed to have decided to follow these 'Denizens of Despair'."

"The people in those weird masks? We saw them before…"

"Then you know that they aren't exactly in their right mind. They might have become monsters in the body of humans, or maybe they are actually humans who have unleashed the monsters inside. Regardless, they all decided to have accepted the idea of despair into their minds, and are now desperate to serve the 'Denizens of Despair' however they can."

"So basically, they're crazy, mindless, drones…"

"Well if you put it that way…"

Agustin yawned. His body started to feel a bit heavy from the exhaustion catching up to him.

_"Well it has been a long day…"_ he thought to himself.

"You seem rather tired," the one-armed man deduced. "I think it'll be best if you would stay over for the night."

"Thanks. I think we'll take you up on that offer…"

After the two were shown into an open room with a few blankets for bedding and warmth, Agustin wrapped himself up, ignoring the small stench he could make out from the worn fabric, and slowly closed his eyes. The last thing he saw was Kujou sitting against a wall with his eyes closed and nothing but the cloak to keep him warm.

The hunter's last conscious thoughts were towards himself, wondering if the others were okay, and whether the warrior was really fine sleeping the way he was.

* * *

"..ke up…."

*Groan*

"Wa…up I…."

*Groan*

"I said wake up Hunter."

Agustin slowly opened his eyes and sat up. He stretched his arms and rubbed his arms, which felt strangely sore.

"Ugh, I feel like I've been sleeping on something hard…"

"Nice deduction, hunter. Now wake up and look around…"

Agustin didn't appreciate the roughness in Kujou's tone, but that last comment woke him up as he started to get a grasp of his surroundings.

The room was suddenly covered in bricks and wet spots, which seemed to have come from water that was dripping from the ceiling. There were no windows or openings to look outside, but there was one large opening which was sealed by sturdy iron bars which were preventing anything from going out or coming in. The atmosphere felt fairly damp and musty, and the smell was so bad that the blanket was starting to smell like a flower compared to what he was smelling now.

"Oh crap…"

"Yeah, the whole thing was a trap…"

The two of them were stuck in a prison.

* * *

_**Yup. Our two heroes have now been stuck in jail for their crimes of "no speaking" and "being dangerous" (joking, of course).**_

_**But in the end, all of the heroes are gonna die anyways, so what does it matter, right? Well okay, if you want *mocking tone* HOPE *mocking tone ends* then not EVERYONE is gonna die.**_

_**Now then, I'm not sure when I'll update, but I'll try to post when I can.**_

_**As always, reviews and questions and whatever else are encouraged, but completely optional.**_


	14. Chapter 2 - We went and started a fire

**_So, next chapter finally up. Kinda short, but wanted to give an idea of what to expect next time I update._**

* * *

_"_So…any idea where we are?"

"We're just underneath the settlement."

"Really? I thought we'd be a lot farther than that…"

Kujou sighed in response to Agustin's comment. Even if they were held as prisoners, it was important to try and keep them as close as possible while restraining their movements as well. If the old man was being kind, he would have been doing this out of courtesy. On the other hand, he might want Monokuma to take them out of the settlement's hands as soon as possible, so they might not be expected to stay long.

The warrior didn't have any idea about the old man's plans, which involved sending them to this prison, but usually these kinds of scenarios involve the bounty system, where villages that capture wanted figures will be rewarded. Maybe improved living conditions?

"Wait a minute," Agustin spoke, "how can you be sure that we're underneath the settlement?"

"Because I was watching and listening as they moved us."

"Watching and listening….you mean you knew this was going to happen?"

"…"

"What the hell man?! Why didn't you say something?!"

Kujou sighed a second time. It seems like this one is a bit slow.

"Earlier, we saw that boy drawing clean water from a different source, didn't we? If the old man was really trying to be kind to us, then he would've had some cleaner water prepared for guests like us…"

"But, couldn't that be because they had to be really cautious about how much clean water they could share?"

"He distinctly used the less clean water for a reason. To hide any taste or scent of any drugs or poisons that they would have added into the drink."

"Well that kinda makes sense, but still…"

Kujou turned his head. It didn't matter what the hunter was going to say next.

Yes, this kind of thought might be intended to be a less optimistic view. Yes, maybe he could be wrong. No, there was no guarantee that everything was intended to play out like he thought, but at this point, none of that mattered. The fact was that they were both in a jail cell, and they took Agustin's special tool while they thought the two of them were knocked out. Maybe hoping to use that power for themselves or for Monokuma. Whatever those things were made of, he knew that the old man was right when he said that it had dangerous potential.

It was a good thing that he wasn't waving his around so openly like Agustin had…

Taking his tool from the small Velcro belt on the inside of his cape, he gripped it tightly to create a katana that had a nice, sharp edge to it.

Luckily, there weren't any guards around to see him in action, and they didn't seem like they were well enough to have security cameras around.

Kujous began to focus his mind. Using his head, he began to imagine energy from his body, being redirected into his arms and hands, which would fuse with the weapon, making it an extension of his actual physical body. He imagined the inside of the iron bars in front of him, the amount of energy that the bar held, and compared it to the energy he had in his arms and blade. He then shifted his sight towards the top and the bottom of each bar to search for weak points, places where the "energy" was at its weakest, and therefore easiest to destroy. Focusing on his target, he sliced the bars, leaving a wide enough gap for the two of them to escape.

He could tell that Agustin was trying to say something, but they didn't have time to chat. The sooner they escaped, the better.

He ran out of the cell, checking to make sure the hunter was following him, then ran up the stairs leading to the exit. He peeked through a small opening in the door to check for anyone who might be watching out for them, then silently opened the way out.

* * *

Strangely enough, the entire area was completely deserted. He kept himself entirely aware of even the slightest disturbance, but there wasn't even a single sound that hinted that anyone was even watching them.

They went back to Bodwin's home to check to see if they could retrieve Agustin's tool, cautiously opening the door and peeking around while searching thoroughly for the needed object.

They eventually found it sitting on the shelf, with no signs of it being tampered with. Agustin took it back and checked to make sure that nothing seemed off, but Kujou took the opportunity to check the bedrooms for any supplies that they might be able to use on their trip.

He was halfway up the stairs when he smelled something bad. Something that made his stomach turn, yet…he had a good idea of what it was.

He lightly held his own tool and started sneaking around the halls in the second floor without making a sound. The source of the smell got stronger in one particular room, but something about it gave him the urge to turn away like nothing was wrong.

"This pungent smell…it can't be…"

He could guess what it was, and although he knew that this would explain everything, somewhere deep down, he had a small bit of hope that he was wrong.

He slowly peeked into the room where the smell was coming from, and widened his eyes as he saw the inside.

The room was dark and mostly dusty, with only a single window with the curtains opened to let light in. There were dolls sitting around the room, and a single small mirror sitting on top of a small desk with leftover make-up bits that seemed to have been obtained from garbage piles. And on the bed, covered in a polka-dotted blanket, was the girl that Bodwin mentioned earlier, Jem.

…or, he should say, what was left of Jem.

The one named Jem was a rotted corpse. Maggots and gnats were inhabiting spaces in the corpse's open mouth, eye sockets, and places where the flesh had been removed from the skeleton. Speaking of the flesh, he could only see the head and shoulder areas, but most of the flesh had disappeared, leaving only bones to show that a body even existed. Part of her eyes and her face were still visible, but paired with the part that was only bone, it looked like a haunted doll like in those horror movies. In fact, it was so disturbing that he wouldn't have been surprised if it really came to life and started craving human flesh and organs. But of course, that would never happen for real.

Agustin came by to check things out, but he was obviously just as stunned at the sight, though not as much as the warrior expected. Maybe it's because he's seen many animal corpses before? Agustin got closer to check the body while keeping a fair distance from the rotten corpse. No telling what kind of things they could catch from it.

"She's been dead for quite a while…" the hunter announced.

"Really?"

"I've seen this kind of stuff with several animals before. The process varied since there were moments were flesh was eaten, but in this case, it looks like it's been at least a week since she died. Meaning she was dead long before we all woke up…"

He shook his head. "It's just sad the way these corpses end up. I expected something like this to appear at some point, but still…" He covered his mouth. "It's just the worst…"

Kujou stared at the scene for a few more minutes.

It's most likely that this was part of, if not the only, reason that they were captured. Most families would be willing to do almost anything to save their loved ones, if they truly cared enough, and this was no exception.

Biting his lip, he left the room and started leaning against the wall. Agustin came by to talk.

"Hey, if you don't mind…I…."

Kujoiu held his hand up. There wasn't anything more he needed to say.

"I saw some matches in the cupboards earlier. Use those and a rag tied to a stick…"

* * *

After the burning funeral, the two of them left with a deep feeling of sadness in their hearts.

Jem's body was burned in order to give her some freedom. Neither of them was really religious, but it was the respectful thing to do, regardless.

They walked further inside the settlement, checking around for any spare supplies that they could take with them on their journey, when they eventually came across someone lying on the ground.

At first, they were cautious and held their tools tightly, waiting for some kind of sign of an ambush, but they were eventually satisfied with the idea that a surprise wasn't waiting for them. Agustin ran up to the man and held him up just enough to see his face. The man was pale, and his chest looked like something dug itself inside, leaving a small hole in his chest, just enough to keep him alive, but not enough to keep him from feeling agonizing pain.

"Hey, you ok?"

The man turned with painful look on his face.

"R…Ru…nn…."

Moments after hearing these words, Kujou felt a trace of heat suddenly wash over him. He froze momentarily as he realized…

"Agustin! Throw him away! Now!"

"Huh?"

No sooner than Agustin hesitantly followed, that the body suddenly began to glow then caught fire. The two of them were surprised and stood with a look of horror on their face.

The body had spontaneously combusted, leaving a charring, screaming, corpse in its wake.

"Hmph, looks like this was a worthless piece of junk…"

The two of them turned around to find a familiar-looking person gazing at them from a distance.

Twin-tails long enough to reach her waist, a heavy duty belt worn with explosives all lined up for quick use, that dark look that seemed to say "I don't give a crap about you or people who seem to be like you".

Miko Kotowari. The SHSL Demolitionist and one of the "Denizens of Despair".

* * *

**_And now I shall disappear into the world of studies, video games, and other fanfics But don't worry, I'll try to update this sometime within the next couple of months...-ish..._**


	15. Chapter 2 - Well done or Extra Crispy?

**Yeah, it's been a while since I've posted, but I hope at least some people are still reading...**

**Anyways, my excuses shall be at the end. Please read this new chapter for now...**

* * *

"We captured two of the targets that Monokuma has been searching for!"

Miko lazily turned her head to see an old man and several refugees on their knees bowing at her. She stared for a bit before turning back to the vast wasteland in front of her.

"So?"

"So…we would like you to tell Monokuma that we would like to offer…a trade…"

Picking her ears with her pinky, she blew on the stuff that was caught on it, then went back to relaxing. She had already set up the chair for a good angle, and she'd rather not run it for something stupid or insignificant.

"Er…Ms. Kotowari?"

Silence.

"Ms. Kotowari…the trade?"

Silence.

"Ms. Kotowari!"

While still hesitant, the old man began to shout. The demolitionist finally sat up while hearing the people gasp behind her, then turned to face them all while holding her hand out.

"...huh?"

She thrusted her hand out several times, but they were still confused. Looks like she needed to spell it out for them.

"The Monokumite…"

"Er…oh!"

Yeah "oh". She saw those brats using Monokumite when they first met, and while she didn't know what they were doing with it, she did know that it was going to be troublesome if they continued carrying it around. Especially now that Pikachi died and most likely did something stupid like spill a couple secrets.

"W-Well…you see…"

Here it comes…

"W-We left the Monokumite a-at my home. You see…w-we forgot to bring it with us…."

What a load of crap.

Monokumite held enormous potential as a tool and/or weapon, so it would've made more sense to keep it for themselves to use as a threat against Monokuma.

But that's some weak thinking.

For one thing, Monokumite can't be used by just anyone. Those things carry an imprinting system that only reacts to certain people who have carried it around for a significant amount of time. The Monokumite gathers DNA from the holder, and then uses that DNA to modify itself into something based on the gathered info. The reason is unknown, but the fact remains that only people who were "imprinted" with Monokumite can use that particular Monokumite.

Of course, this means that none of those stupid refugees could use it now, but there was no need to tell them about that. They eventually would've learned about that when they would try to use it against them. Then she could just collect it from their bodies and…

Wait. Something was bothering her.

"Tell me…how much Monokumite did you find?"

"One of course. It was the only one they were carry…ing…a…round?"

The old man was scared. And with good reason.

Miko was glaring fiercely at him.

These incompetent morons obviously didn't do a thorough body search when they tossed those damn brats in prison. And from the sound of it, they didn't have the sense to post a guard just in case.

Well whatever. She never really expected them to do something smart on their own, and it was better this way. Now she can actually see those bastards burn from her explosions first hand in a battle.

But just to be sure those idiotic refugees don't screw up again…

"Hey, I want each of you to get over here…"

She motioned her finger to have them come over. As they complied, she balled up her hand into a fist, then shoved it at the old man's chest. She heard him cough up air as he suddenly yelled in pain, then she moved her hand. There was a black spot at the space where she punched him, but it wasn't blood or anything like that. It actually seemed to be slowly squeezing itself into the man's body, as if it were alive.

"Next…"

As the saying goes, if you have lemons, make lemonade.

So she was going to make something useful out of these meat-sacks, to help take care of those stupid hope fanatics.

After all, fat does help protect a lot of things, even bombs.

And the smell of meat cooking is oh so delicious at times…

* * *

Agustin gasped.

The man literally combusted into flames, and the smell of burnt flesh was there to prove it.

Their opponent, Miko Kotowari, was standing in front of them with a disappointed look on her face. Like someone who saw their own plan fail from a single miscalculation.

She called that man a "worthless piece of junk". Does that mean that she was responsible for what happened just then?

The girl looked at them, then shifted her eyes to the burning corpse for a moment, before going back to them. She snapped her fingers, and several more of the refugees had appeared, each of them glaring at the two with fierce and feral eyes. However there was something else that seem different.

Taking a closer look, Agustin was momentarily shocked. Each of them had a small hole in their chest, similar to the man who just exploded earlier.

Each of these people had become human bombs, waiting to go off at Miko's command.

"Kujou, they…" but he didn't need to say any more. Kujou nodded slightly, acknowledging that he came to the same conclusion. However there didn't seem to be anything they can do. They weren't even sure how those people would be able to explode in the first place.

Miko stared straight at them, the evil seemed to be leaking out of her eyes as she snapped her fingers.

The refugees suddenly ran towards the two, the desperation easy to read. The two of them steadied themselves to counter attack when suddenly, a couple of children started grabbing onto their legs.

Agustin tried to shake his off, but the small boy was grabbing tightly. His tool shifted into a knife to scare the kid off, but it didn't work. The hunter then decided to focus on the incoming adult instead.

"Idiot!"

The warrior shouted as Agustin saw him swiftly cut the boy's arms off. He was stunned as he watched Kujou toss the boy to the adult running towards the hunter like a ragdoll, knocking the two away a short distance.

"What the hell was that for?!" was what he wanted to shout out, but at that moment…

BOOM!

He turned back to the young boy and adult, who both exploded, splattering blood and pieces of flesh around the area. Agustin couldn't speak at that moment. All of this was a bit much to take in.

Hunting an animal and a human were logically different, as far as humans believed. Humans consider themselves closer to gods than other creatures, in terms of form and sometimes intelligence. It was an arrogant concept, but nonetheless the basis to the thought process that humans were at the top of the chain of command. Therefore, a hunter normally restricts himself to animals while killing humans would result in a state of panic.

Agustin was no different.

Being a hunter didn't mean that Agustin was able to kill his emotions. Seeing a person just die in front of them would usually stun anyone. Everything in his world seemed to be falling apart.

Humans dying? Blood and flesh scattering in the air? Fighting for survival? This was too much for him. At that moment, it felt like everything had suddenly shut off. He couldn't hear anything, none of his senses seemed to be working correctly.

It was all suddenly one giant blank.

* * *

"Damnit…"

Kujou steadied his blade as he kept shifting his attention to Agustin.

He already prepared himself to kill in order to survive. He was a warrior, a person who must steel his heart and prepare to fight for victory, no matter the cost.

And yet, he wasn't completely heartless.

Agustin was deadweight at the moment, but there was no way he could just leave the hunter alone. He could only hope that Agustin would gather himself quick enough to start fighting again, but he would need to make sure to keep them both alive until then.

Miko seemed to be amused at some point, but she also seem frustrated. Was she annoyed that they weren't dying so early? Or was it something else?

No, he couldn't think about that right now. He needed to focus on the current task, which was dealing with the exploding refugees.

He knew that he had to expect that they(the refugees) would all die regardless of whether "Hope" or "Despair" won here and now.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, he steadied his heart and widened his range of awareness, keeping track of some of even the slightest sound or shift in movement.

Whenever someone moved, Kujou would instantly react once they got within range, and swung his weapon around, cutting his opponents and tossing their bodies away before they could explode. If they went close to Agustin, he would dash over and protect him before leading them away from the stunned man.

He never faltered, never wavered, simply slicing the area around him until finally, they were all gone.

He started to breathe heavily as the stress began to catch up to him. But all that he wanted to do at the moment was point his weapon at Miko, who was slowly clapping as he killed the last of her pawns.

"So, you feel anything after killing all those innocent people?"

"Innocent? They threw us in a dungeon and tried to kamikaze us under your orders."

She shrugged.

"Well it doesn't matter now. They're all dead, and you're the one who killed them in the end. Life is a total bitch."

"Yeah, and I'm staring at one of her lackeys right now…"

Miko twitched an eye.

"Clever, but I suppose you've earned a reward…" She tossed a small machine towards Kujou, who let it fall to the ground. "Don't worry, it's not a bomb…" she explained after seeing his reaction. "It's a GPS tracker. I've left one at my 'arena', so you can come by and fight me when you're ready. I'll give you 24 hours, or else I'll just come by and kill you myself."

She turned to leave.

"If I were you, I'd leave the deadweight where he is. This is world is a total hell, and it's not gonna get any better anytime soon, so softhearted idiots would be better off dead…"

* * *

Agustin snapped back into attention. He was lying on the ground face-up with some kind of blanket covered on his body. It looks like it became nighttime while he was out.

He shifted his vision to see Kujou sitting on the other side of a small fire that was burning in-between them. The hunter sat while slightly knocking on his blade and wiping it with a piece of cloth. The hunter couldn't help but stare at the weapon, as the memories of torn flesh and spilt blood suddenly surged back into him.

"You're awake, huh?"

Kujou didn't look at the hunter, instead continued to focus on his own weapon. They didn't need to speak much about what happened earlier. The looks on their faces did the talking.

Kujou was obviously disappointed that Agustin wasn't able to handle seeing those people die, but he understood that seeing a person and an animal die were two different things. He was hoping though, that Agustin would somehow sort things out and decide whether he was going to continue fighting against Monokuma and his lackeys, or if he was planning on giving up and end up getting killed by someone or something at some point in the future.

Agustin, on the other hand, was angry about Kujou having no qualms about cutting other people with his weapons. Sure, they drugged them, tossed them in a cell, and tried to kill them both with suicide bombings. But still, they didn't deserve to die like that, nobody did.  
And yet, if he didn't, Agustin might not have been there anymore. It was a kid, but that emptiness on his face, that hopelessness, that look of death, it was all there, and he knew that it was just about useless to do anything to save him. He didn't want to admit it, but there was no other choice. He knew what he had to do…

"Get some rest. We'll head off to meet with that explosive expert tomorrow, and you better be ready for what's ahead…"

Agustin didn't answer. He just placed his head back on the makeshift pillow, which he realized were folded clothing, and let the momentary calm atmosphere lull him to sleep.

* * *

**So yeah, I know this probably seemed kinda rushed, and I have no excuses. I may as well hang this story and give up...or at least I could, but that's not exactly a plan right now. I'm going to try getting back on working on each of my fanfics again. I think I got some time free, even with my school work.**

**I've already begun the next chapter, so it should come up in a week at most. I think it turned out okay so far...**


	16. Chapter 2 - Second Boss: Demolitionist

**_Next chapter. I'd like to apologize if the characters seem a bit too OOC. I try not to do that when I can._**

* * *

8:29

That was the time that Miko read on her watch.

It was pretty early, and those two didn't have any actual way of telling time, so there was nothing to do but wait.

She couldn't help but smile, despite herself. The feeling of waiting for an opponent before a grand match, the anticipation of an outcome where one side wins or loses. All these feelings, something she never thought she'd feel again. There were moments when she used to enjoy those days, a time when she was as positive as those idiots that they had to get rid of once and for all.

At one point, if that incident never happened, would she have joined those morons who were supposed to represent hope? Would she have died like those innocent people that she turned to cannon fodder? Would she still be in the same position as where she was right now? These thoughts slowly clouded her mind as she put more and more thought into it.

She focused her gaze as two figures slowly grew larger in her field of vision. It seems the time has finally come to face off with them. Her face shifted back into its serious look.

No, there was no point in thinking about this anymore. There's only two outcomes in the world.

Victory or Death.

And she was going to make sure that those two wouldn't achieve victory…

* * *

Agustin and Kujou finally managed to make it to Miko's "arena", which was a large stadium about 520,840 square feet and filled with large pieces of debris that were scattered all around, making it resemble a stage from those shooting games like Ha*o or Ca** of **ty. Miko herself was sitting on top of one of the large pieces of debris, cross-legged and with that annoying look on her face.

"I suppose you've finally come to die…"

"No," Kujou replied. "We've come to defeat you and get some answers to this mystery."

The demolitionist scoffed.

"Before we start…I want to ask you something…"

She turned her head towards the hunter.

Agustin had more confidence in his eyes, but there seemed to be something else, something more hollow...something that seemed to somehow be clear yet cloudy at the same time. Something confusing her.

"What the hell do you want?"

"Why do you kill people so easily?"

Kujou was a bit stunned. Was this really the time to ask?

"..hm…hm hm…."

The two looked up at her.

"Hm…hm hm hm hm hm….heh heh heh heh heh heh…You're asking me why I've killed people so easily? A person who works with Monokuma? A 'Denizen of Despair'?"

"I'm asking because it's you."

Agustin was completely serious about this.

Since last night, he thought about just going for the kill after knowing what Miko did, that she probably wouldn't even bother talking about her reasons.

But then he thought about those refugees. They all had their own reason for trying to turn the two of them in to Monokuma. They also had another reason when Miko turned them into human bombs, so Miko herself must have some kind of reason for doing all of this.

So he wanted to at least hear her out. He didn't know whether it was worth taking the time to do this, but he wanted to at least give it a shot.

"That's a stupid question. Why did you attack those 'innocent people' earlier?"

"Because…"

"There were plenty of ways to avoid them. But instead you two decided to just go and chop them up and let them die.."

"You're the one who sent them after us in the first place."

"Did I tell you to kill them?"

"You knew that they would all die because of what you did!"

"No, I knew that at least SOME of them would die in order to try and kill you. Not that all of them would be worthless in taking you down, when all they needed was to take you by surprise, LIKE THIS!"

She pressed a button on the custom-made wristband on her left wrist.

***BOOM* *BOOM***

Two explosions suddenly rang out simultaneously from the debris that was at the sides of the two.

She already planted traps earlier for plenty of sneak attacks in the area.

Well, all she was doing was making use of her own weapons, so it shouldn't be a problem to rely on cowardly tactics to fight.

But sadly, this whole thing was far from over.

She ducked as Kujou suddenly appeared while making a slashing movement with his weapon. The boy flew past her, reaching the ground behind her and setting up for another attack.

Or at least, that's what it was supposed to seem like.

She sidestepped to the left as Agustin swung downward with a knife, then she shifted her body as he made several follow-up attacks.

Agustin thought back to earlier, to the time when he and Kujou was heading to the "arena".

* * *

_"Fighting a person is different from hunting an animal. You need to plan out your method of attack, and then use a follow-up after failing the first attack."_

_"I should expect to fail on my first move?"_

_"You NEED to expect failure on the first move. These aren't mindless animals that you're fighting, its people who can think ahead and defend against the most basic moves. A follow-up increases your chances of hurting them, since there are thousands of ways to make another move, while only hundreds or tens to start one."_

* * *

After hearing Miko's words, he knew that he had no reason to hesitate anymore, he was going to defeat her at any cost.

But even so, this was still difficult.

Miko was able to easily dodge all his moves, even his follow-ups, without even breaking a sweat.

Even though Agustin was a hunter, he still was skilled with wielding a knife, so it wasn't like he was poor at handling a weapon or attacking.

It just meant that he was easier to read than he thought.

He leapt back next to Kujou, who was keeping a stance while glaring at the demolitionist.

"Sneak attacks seem below you." Miko said.

"Says the one who used one earlier." Kujou replied.

"Bite me, I'm the damn villain. I'm allowed to cheat."

She pressed a couple more buttons, and the two leapt in opposite directions to avoid the blast. But the explosions were set off at spaces several meters away from where they originally were.

Miko tossed something at each of them. Kujou began to look carefully, seeing something small and…furry? It was a rat?

No wait…

He used the back end of his blade to hit the rat-like object and sent it flying away before it exploded. He turned to Agustin, who seemed to have noticed the same thing, and knocked his away as well. The hunter exhumed air to show he was fine.

But it only the beginning. Miko was holding clumps of something in each of her hands and threw them into the air.

The warrior and the hunter both looked as the "somethings" began to take shape as they came closer, and saw that they were tiny spider figurines which also seemed to double as mini-bombs. They tried to run, but the figurines quickly detonated, leaving small explosions in the entire area. Some of them exploded near the two of them, while the rest created tiny shallow craters in the ground around them. Although they weren't powerful to take out flesh, they did cause some serious burns in a couple places.

Immediately following up, Miko pressed even more buttons, and several more bombs detonated nearby, catching the two's attention momentarily. When they looked back, Miko was already running towards them while throwing even more mini bombs, this time in the shape of birds which soared straight at them with pointed tips were the head were supposed to be. The bird-shaped bombs were much faster, and were even designed to slightly turn at different directions mid-air. These were much trickier to avoid, which made the two struggle harder.

Kujou swung his sword the best he could, but it seems as if the "birds" would dance around his blade like leaves in the wind. Agustin tried knocking them with the blunt side of his knife, but the knockback had little effect, instead causing a similar effect with Kujou's sword.

Eventually the bird-shaped bombs exploded as well, generating a bit more force than the spiders, which caused the two to not only sustain more injuries, but to be pushed off into different directions.

"Damnit…" Agusting mumbled as he pushed himself to get up quickly. "She's definitely living up to her title…"

"Indeed," Kujou was using his weapon as support to help himself up. "She certainly carries a wide assortment of explosives. Seems like its C-4…"

"You sure?"

"I've seen some bombs from time to time…"

"Well considering she also molded them into living creatures, I'd say she's making an ironic joke somehow…"

"Ah yes, the hunter being killed by animal-like objects…"

"Shut up. This is the most I've heard you speak at all…"

"Well we can't just stay quiet if we're going to survive. Unless you can somehow read minds…"

"No, sadly that's not something I can do…"

"Then here's what we should do instead…"

* * *

45-degrees to the left, the "birds" will swerve around and loop towards the back.

15-degrees upwards from the ground. These will dive from the sky and aim towards their feet to explode. Any attempt to hit or dodge them will just make it harder for themselves.

A bomb-user usually relies on traps and long-range attacks to fight at a distance, while keeping the elements of surprise, but she's used bombs for a long time now, and she's already had plenty of practice with other losers to learn the best way to utilize her homemade explosives for any situation.

"Spiders" were more stationary and weaker, but she could throw out more of them for distractions and smokescreens. "Rats" were designed to move and deliver a bigger impact, but they were less sensitive, so she'd need to set them off herself. "Birds" were the most mobile, and were stronger than "Spiders", but they were too light to control herself, and a good gust of wind could literally blow them away (Luckily, there was no wind blowing today, so that flaw was covered).

In short, strategic skill was needed to utilize these bombs effectively.

She tossed more "Birds", but she was quickly running out, so she threw in a few "Spiders" and "Rats" as well. With all three together, she'd be able to confuse them and throw off their senses momentarily.

Then, with the mines underneath them that she saved for this moment, the combined detonation should be strong enough to cripple enough to detain them for a while.

Watching as the two struggled to continue, she turned and jumped behind a rather large piece of rubble before counting down.

5…

4…

3…

2…

**BOOM**

The bombs all went off, creating a rather big explosion and setting off a small wave of heat that quickly spread out about a fourth of the entire stadium.

She looked around to see flames burst brightly in the area where all her bombs had went off. There was no way anyone should have survived a blast like that. Even though each of her bombs had different strengths, the combined force was enough to burn at least a fifth of a large city alone.

But that was still wishful thinking.

She sighed as she felt the cold monokumite press against the skin of her throat.

Agustin was holding his knife against her while breathing heavily. Kujou seemed to be nearby, standing and watching the two of them.

"Hm…how boring…"

"Shut up. I'm getting tired of hearing you talk…"

The tone in the hunter's voice hinted stress. It would be easy to push his buttons, but it wasn't worth it right now.

"The bombs went off two seconds earlier than usual, but even so to get away without either of you dying?"

This was truly a surprise. She never expected the two of them to live through that explosion, maybe one at most, with the sacrifice of another. So she was rather curious.

"Humor me, how exactly did you do this?"

"We aren't obligated to tell you anything. You answer to us now…"

"Very well, I supposed I could just torture you both for answers instead…"

"Are you freakin kidding me?! We have you trapped here! Why are you…"

Agustin was wide-eyed as he suddenly released her.

Of course since she threw a "Rat", it was obvious that he'd naturally avoid by instinct.

But that was a dud. A fake she made for cases like these.

It was only a split-second before Agustin realized the truth and ran back to try and capture her again.

"You know, most bombers would try to get some distance before attacking again." She calmly spoke as she watched Agustin come closer. "After all, they're mostly trap-setters and mid- to long-range attackers who'd rather not get caught up in their own attacks. However…"

As he was about to grab her, she swiftly dodged the attack while spinning to avoid his arm while staying inside his "zone".

"…you made a mistake."

She gave a dark smile before landing a punch on Agustin's chest.

The punch was heavy, she had forgotten this feeling for a quite a while. It was the same punch she used to land when back in her early days.

A punch that sent the hunter flying to the spot just in front of the warrior, and making him cough up some blood.

"You never considered the fact that I actually know close-range combat."

Yes, back in those days, she was a well-known street fighter who climbed the top of the ladder in success. A lot has happened since then, but one thing never changed.

She was one of the best street fighters around, and she never forgotten how to fight like one, even now.

No more holding back.

No more half-assing.

In only 5 minutes, she'll cripple the two of them and take their monokumite before slowly killing them in the most painful way possible.

* * *

_**Errrrrrr...I kinda don't like how this chapter was written, but I'll leave it up to you all to decide on how it turned out.**_

_**Well I'm not sure when the next chapter would be up, but I'll see what I can do. If there are any questions, complaints, blah blah blah the usual stuff, please leave a review on it or PM me. I'd really appreciate it.**_

_**Ravenking, sorry again for making Agustin too OOC. Let me know if this chapter worked better for how you initially saw him.**_


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